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| Sunday, 11 July 2004 |
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Susanthika - to achieve Greek dream or a damp squib? Straight talk by Lal Gunasekera Will she or will she not? Of course I am referring to non other than Sri Lanka's sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe who has yet to qualify to run in her pet event, 200 metres, at the Athens Olympic Games next month. This is the million dollar question on the lips of almost everyone these days with only a few weeks more for Susanthika, who won a bronze medal for Sri Lanka at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, to qualify for the Athens Olympics. The qualification mark of 23.17 seconds to face the starter in Athens has eluded her so far and whether she will make it only time will tell. However, she does not seem disappointed at her timings at the Asian Grand Prix events in Thailand (23.42 seconds), Colombo (23.38 seconds) and Manila (23.24 seconds). She was declared the winner in Colombo in a photo finish though winning in Thailand. But in the last leg in Manila, Susanthika was pushed into third place by two Uzbekistan lasses. She clocked 23.48 seconds at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Islamabad, Pakistan in March-April. Susanthika is 28 years old and hamstring injuries have been regular occurrences in her career. There are also several other younger sprinters from all over the world who have been hitting the headlines, and the dusky Sri Lankan has not yet been able to make that qualification for the 200 metres. She has yet to compete with top European runners so far, but will be doing so very soon in her attempts to qualify for Athens, though already qualifying to run in the 100 metres. Susanthika reminds me of former world heavy-weight boxing champion Mohamed Ali, whose famous words come to my mind...fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Will Susasnthika be able to do that-qualify and win a medal in Athens in the 200 metres? She is a determined personality who will have to perform and show her critics that she is yet able at 28 years to win a medal at the Olympic Games. A lot of money has been spent on her by various persons and organisations and now what better way for Susanthika to show her gratitude and the faith of her many benefactors than to qualify to run in Athens and win a medal. Will she be able to deliver the goods or will this be her swansong? Susanthika must stop making excuses which she makes regularly about the wind and weather factors hindering her. She is an athlete of international level and must stop putting the blame on each and everything. Put your hamstring injury behind you Susanthika, and make up your mind that you can achieve your targets. Finally, its the mind that counts and your fitness. You have said that you "do not want to rush things, but gradually reach your peak and speed up systematically and that there is no need to panic". The outspoken sprinter is scheduled to run in three IAAF International Grand Prix meets very soon with the first at Athens itself yesterday (Saturday). She had also stated in Manila that she would `fire' at the correct time and had even quoted the situation in 2000 where she ran in the European circuit and clocked a career best timing in Japan, a week before the Sydney Olympics. Lets wait and see what she could achieve this time-four years later. Susanthika gets he advice from American coach Tony Campbell, who has told her not to panic. It will be recalled that it was Campbell who guided her to win the bronze at the Sydney Olympics. Lets see whether she will be able to `make it' in the 200 metres for Athens or whether she will be forced to eat her own words. OVER THE HILL Damayanthi Darsha is an Asian Games champion who appears to be 'over the hill' now. She concentrates on the 400 metres where she has qualified to run in Athens. She was third in the Thailand leg of the recent Asian Grand Prix (52.82 seconds), third in Colombo (52.83 seconds), but was a big disappointment in Manila where she finished fifth with a time off 53.96 seconds which was won by a lesser known Indian called K.Soman with a timing of 52.84 seconds. After an one-year lay-off from the international scene, Dharsha says that she is `happy with my progress' and also says that she has the time to `peak' before the Athens Olympics. She has started her speed work outs and training schedule drawn up, targeting the Olympics next month and will advance step by step. However, unlike Susanthika Jayasinghe, Darsha, will not compete in any international meet before she departs to Athens. DISCIPLINE-MY FOOT! On the topic of athletics, I wonder what has happened to the Disciplinary Committee inquiry reports on Susanthika Jayasinghe and Sugath Tillekeratne? The AAA appointed a panel to inquire into various allegations made against Susanthika and the NOC did the same where Tillekeratne was concerned. Allegations were made against these two athletes during the SAF Games in Pakistan, but upto date no one seems to know what has happened to these two reports. If they are guilty, action must be taken. I wonder whether these reports too are gathering dust somewhere, as usually is the case where top sportsmen and women are concerned? Why play hide and seek? |
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