Aiming for medal at 2016 or 2020 Olympics, says Dian Gomes

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Cor.

Our aim is to win a medal in Olympics in 2016 or in 2020 and we are working towards this goal and if you require the assistance for your preparation we are prepared to provide it whether it be training, employment or continuing of your higher studies said the Managing Director of MAS Holdings Dian Gomes.

He made these observations when he addressed over 250 young boxers from girls and boys from schools in the Kandy, Peradeniya, Digana, Pilimathalawa areas at the Linea Clothing Auditorium at the Board of Investments Complex at Pallekele on Friday evening.

He said that he will be their corner man who will guide them to achieve these ideals, and the main drive should be from the boxers who should take to this sport which is not a display of brute strength in the ring but a display of strength coupled with mental ability to overcome stronger opponents. It is a science where a better boxer using his skills emerges the winner. So do not entertain any fears and we can do it and there is nothing we cannot do as Sri Lankans.

In 1996 when we won the World Cup at cricket, how many of us would have expected this to happen in our pre-match predictions. But we all stood up as one nation irrespective of race, caste, religion or creed and supported out motherland. It was our moment of glory - a moment we still cherish and has left an indelible mark in us.

When Susanthika Jayasinghe won the medal at the Sydney Olympics and before she started the historic sprint the country experienced the silence which we had never experienced before.

It was pin drop silence in the entire country.