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| Sunday, 18 August 2002 |
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Was Susanthika's disqualification rigged? by Lal Gunasekera With all her experience in the international scene did Olympic Games bronze medallist, Susanthika Jayasinghe, step out of her lane to earn herself a disqualification in the Women's 200 metres (Heat 4 of Round 1) at the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, recently or was there something else than what met the eye? This question could only be answered by the jury that sat to hear her appeal, but upheld the disqualification. Jayasinghe won this Heat in 22.61 seconds - the best timing among all the other runners in the Heats. When she crossed the finishing line, her name and timing appeared on the massive TV screens at the City of Manchester Stadium. She was jubilant when walking back to the dressing room, but soon afterwards the screens showed that she had been disqualified. She did not know about this sad state of affairs until the Sri Lanka mediamen informed her about it. She then wanted Sri Lanka's chef-de-mission, Dewa Henry, to lodge a protest, which was done. After the jury had viewed the video of this particular Heat, (no Sri Lankan official was permitted to view it), they (the jury) upheld the decision. However, a few days later, the Sri Lankans managed to get hold of this video, but at no stage did it show that Jayasinghe had stepped out of her lane. Susanthika took the decision very bravely, although there were tears in her eyes. This was her pet event, but she could not enter the final to win the gold medal to show her parents who were present at the Stadium in Manchester to see their 'Chutti Menike' bring honour and glory to her motherland. They too took the disappointment in their stride - "We are still proud of her. There are many more years of her career left and she will prove herself in no uncertain terms." Was the disqualification a genuine mistake, and if it was no, why didn't the jury overrule it after viewing the video? This question may never be answered, although the Sri Lankan community in England are to make representations to the Commonwealth Institute. Jayasinghe also ran in the Women's 100 metres, but failed by a mere 0.01 seconds to win the bronze medal. The gold medal was won by Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas in 10.91 seconds and she went on to win two other 'golds' 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay too. This was Jayasinghe's best timing this season and her 11.15 seconds in the semi-finals was the third best in the Heats. Ferguson had been beaten by Jayasinghe in Japan earlier. However, Jayasinghe, proved to be the best sprinter in Asia when a few days later she won both the 100 and 200 metres at the Asian Athletic Championship staged at the Sugathadasa Stadium and even equalled the 200 metres record. Sriyani Kulawansa who won a silver medal at the previous Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in the Women's 100 metres hurdles, failed to reach the final of this event, coming only fifth in 13.29 seconds. Damayanthi Darsha too failed to reach the final of the 200 metres and even the semi-finals of the 400 metres, while Sugath Tillekeratne, failed to reach the final of the men's 400 metres.The Relays were a disaster. The men were disqualified and the women were sixth the baton changing was mediocre to say the least. How a relay be run without proper training and certain athletes not communicating with one another. At Manchester the boxers, shooters (except for Pushpamali Ratnayake who was sixth in the women's 10 metres air rifle event) and squash players failed to make any impression. Squash player, Saman Tillekeratne was given permission to leave for France where he is living by the Chef-de-Mission, who was unaware that he did have a Doubles match to play. The two shuttlers (Chandrika de Silva and Niluka Karunaratne) did well to reach the last 16 in the Singles for the first time at any Games by any Sri Lankan in this sport, while two athletes (Anoma Wanniaratchi and Nimmi de Soysa) did not compete in any event with the latter arriving in Manchester with an injury. The less said about the Rugby Scenes outfit the better, the lost by massive margins in every game. When writing about the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, it would not be complete if no mention is made about the fantastic City of Manchester Stadium which accommodated 38,000 spectators. The site chosen - Eastlands, lay just a mile from the City Centre. It was formerly at the heart of Manchester's 19th century industrial infrastructure before falling into decline in the 1970's. The award of the Commonwealth Games together with public funding initiatives and private investment had led to this area becoming a focus for the ongoing urban regeneration program within Manchester. The 18th Commonwealth Games is to be staged in Melbourne, Australia in 2004. |
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