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| Sunday, 23 June 2002 |
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Quality the key word at Asian Athletic C'ships - Maurice Nicholas by A. C. DE SILVA Quality should be the key word when staging big events like the Asian Athletic Championships and the XIVth edition to be staged from August 9 to 12 at the Sugathadasa Stadium should have some good performances recorded during the four-day competition. This is the view of Asian Athletic Association's Secretary General cum Treasurer Maurice Nicholas. There should be around 600 athletes and about 80 officials. 44 countries are scheduled to participate in the mega event. When Maurice Nicholas speaks he does so with a certain amount of authority as he has been in the dual capacity in the august Asian body for the last 29 years and has associated himself in track and field for 50 years. A Singaporean by nationality, he has some connection with Sri Lanka as his father - Alfred George Nicholas was a Sri Lankan who went across to Singapore and Maurice was born there - he being the only boy in the family comprising 10 sisters. Maurice Nicholas has travelled far and wide and been to many important athletic meets and is in a position to speak with authority, especially about the preparations being made for any event. The hosting of the XIVth edition of the Asian Athletic Championship came up at the XIIIth Congress held in Jakarta in 2000 and the Sri Lanka delegation at the Congress had to overcome many obstacles to win the vote to stage the XIVth edition as there were some fears expressed about the ethnic war that was prevalent then. Prema Pinnawala was a great speaker and his convincing assurance to all present that Sri Lanka is a safe place to come for the XIVth edition of the Asian Athletic Championships won the vote above Nepal and Thailand who also bid to stage the meet, said Maurice Nicholas, who also had some fears in the initial stages. But, the Sri Lankan delegation (the others were Sunil Gunawardena, Ranjit Weerasena) besides Pinnawala's efforts bore fruit and with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe coming into power in December last year everything has turned for the good and paved the way for Sri Lanka to stage this prestigious event where staging an international athletic meet demands many things and the most important of all is the running track. The Sugathadasa Stadium track has been neglected over the years and many thanks are due to the new Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Johnston Fernando who wasted no time after taking office to order a new track conforming to international standards be laid out so that Sri Lanka could stage this meet. There have been some fear expressed in some quarters that the track will not be ready in time for the meet. But, Maurice Nicholas who was here specially to see to the progress of work on the new track said that work is going according to schedule and the track should be ready in time for the meet. He went back home on Friday and will be back here again next month to see the progress of work. "It will be Rekottan track for the meet. Only the foundation has been laid out at the moment and the synthetic layer will be laid next as the foundation has to settle down and then the markings will have to be done. Rekottan is a popular brand of track used in many parts of the world and for all international meets the IAAF has to certify the track before competitions start. It is the responsibility of the contractors to see that everything is in order and the IAAF will send their experts to inspect the work and the local organisers will have to meet their expenses", said Nicholas. Nicholas was also happy the way things are going as far as the warm up track which is also an important factor. "Work is progressing well and it suit the normal requirements", he said. Asian Athletic boss Nicholas said that Sri Lanka is very lucky in staging the Asian Athletics Championships as after this meet, there are other important meets that are scheduled to be held and selection for those meets will be on the performance of the meet to be held in August in Colombo. The IAAF World Cup meet will be held in Madrid, Spain September 20-21 and a team to represent Asia will be picked after the Asian Championships and there is also a suggestion of starting a Grand Prix series and eligibility for the Grand Prix series will be the performance at the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. In the Grand Prix series, every event is a final and the top five in each event will participate - there will be two from host country plus one free agent from outside. Speaking athletics in general, Maurice Nicholas who has travelled a lot, said that he was of the view that the standard of athletics has improved tremendously with most federations applying a professional touch, getting foreign coaches in order to raise the standard. The infrastructure is being improved and with latest equipment being made available, the athletes are bound to deliver the goods. |
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