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| Sunday, 15 September 2002 |
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Former marathon runner Wimalasena Perera a forgotten man by LAL GUNESEKERA Remember R. A. Wimalasena Perera and the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968? I am certain that many will not even know who he is or even what event he competed in Mexico. He was Sri Lanka's top marathon runner in the 1960's whose memories of that now famous marathon in Mexico still linger on in and that of a few others who yet know him. He was picked to represent the country at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, a country with a very high altitude. Being a soldier attached to First Field Engineers, Wimalasena, was sent to Diyatalawa for a month's training courtesy Lt. General Dennis Perera, who was at that time the Commanding Officer at Diyatalawa. Julien Grero (a former President of the Ceylon Commonwealth and Olympic Games Association, now the National Olympic Committee) too sent him to Nuwara Eliya for two weeks. Wimalasena had no coach - he trained by himself. After three days training in Mexico, Wimalasena ran into trouble. He developed severe sinus problems and a smashed calf muscle on his right leg. That was it - the end of his training. If he continued with his training, it would have only aggravated his sickness and injury. He chose to rest till the marathon and was administered about 38 injections on his arms and legs. Came the day of the event and Wimalasena was one of the 81 competitors who faced the starter. Only 57 runners finished the race and among the victims of Mexico's thin air was Bikila the winner of the marathon at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. However, Sri Lanka's Wimalasena Perera, finished the race ending 51st clocking 2 hours 57 minutes. He did not know that he had finished the race or even come 51st till the next morning. He had spent the night in a hospital being administered saline. He could not remember the last three miles, until he was told that he looked back with only 100 yards and staggered to the finish, before collapsing and taken to the hospital for saline drips. "I was determined to finish the course, even if I had to crawl on all fours," he reflected back. The winner of the gold medal in Mexico's marathon was Walde who clocked 2 hours 20 minutes 26.4 seconds while Canada's Boychuk's timing was 2 hours 28 minutes 40.2 seconds. At two trials before the Olympics, Wimalasena, had clocked 2 hours 27 minutes. Wimalasena Perera was the only athlete to have represented the country at Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games in the 1960's. At the 8th Commonwealth Games in Jamaica, Wimalasena was forced to "give up" at the 11th mile with shoulder cramps. He ran with canvas shoes provided by the Army. Then in December at the 5th Asian Games in Bangkok, Wimalasena, who was the team captain, finished 7th in very humid conditions clocking 3 hours 13 minutes 52.4 seconds behind Japan's Kimihara. Wimalasena had his early education at Wedamulla MV (1950 to 1952) and then at Sri Dharmaloka Vidyalaya, Kelaniya (1952 to 1964). Speaking to the Sunday Observer, the unassuming Wimalasena, said that he started his athletic career at the Western Province Maha Vidyalaya and Madhya Maha Vidyalaya meets in 1962 where he won the 1500 metres, and won this event with a new record at the Junior Nationals in 1963. Wimalasena joined the Army in 1964 (he retired in August '86 as a Warrant Officer) where his commanding officer in the Field Engineers was non other than Brigadier Ramanayake, who helped him tremendously to reach the top. Some of the top athletes in the same regiment at that time were Linus Dias, Karunananda and S. L. B. Rosa - all famous track "stars." He never had a coach, but won the Sri Lanka marathon for four consecutive years (1966 to 1969). Linus Dias held the record for the marathon from 1959 to 1966 with a time of 2 hours 33 minutes, but Wimalasena set a new record in 1966 with a time of 2 hours 22 minutes 53 seconds which he held upto 1991 - for 25 long years. He won silver medals in both the 5000 and 10,000 metres events at the Singapore Nationals in 1967 and two years later (1969) finished fourth clocking 2 hours 24 minutes at the Hong Kong International Marathon. His "first love" was soccer, but two of his teachers at Dharmaloka MV (Mr. A. L. U. N. Perera and Mr. R. M. D. Kotuwella) introduced Wimalasena to athletics where he distinguished himself before his retirement from the scene in 1971 due to an injury in his left foot. "I am a forgotten man now. It does not matter, but I feel hurt. The AAA forgot me when Colombo played host to the South Asian Federation Games. Then, a few athletes were felicitated, but I was forgotten, so was Ethirveerasingham until quite recently. The same sort of treatment has been meted out to veteran Upali Gooneratne too by the AAA. If this sort of thing can happen to Gooneratne, I am not surprised with the manner I have been treated. I am a small fry compared to Upali Gooneratne," lamented Wimalasena Perera, one of the top marathon runners produced by this country. After retiring from the Army, Wimalasena was an Assistant Security Officer at the Sri Lanka Tyre Corporation for 15 years, and now lives a quiet life with his wife Rajini and son Dhanushka at Waragoda, Kelaniya. In conclusion he said that athletes have no respect for their coaches now and that he finds only the "boot lickers" being given prominence by the hierarchy and that the coaches are not united and that this effects the athletes. He said, "How many went to Manchester for the Commonwealth Games and won medals? Now, how many are going to South Korea for the Asian Games and what will be the medals tally? There were only six medals won at the Asian Track and Field Championship in Colombo. How many qualified coaches do we have for athletics? Only Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Darsha, Sriyani Kulawansa and Sugath Tillekeratne can win medals for Sri Lanka at international meets." These were the candid comments of Wimalasena Perera. |
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