Broken souvenirs turn mended heroes

They make no demands, have no complaints, are proud of a crippling past and their future could not have looked better:

by Callistus Davy

To the skeptics, a band of battle-scarred war veterans may have very little or nothing other than a shattered past to portray, but the story is different for six troopers who fought many a pitched battle in a civil war and now carry hopes of showcasing what is left of them as members of Sri Lanka's Paralympic team at a world meet in the Qatari capital of Doha this month.

Each one of them aims to replicate or improve on a feat by another differently-able Olympian or Sri Lankan Paralympian, Pradeep Sanjaya, who won a bronze at the London Games in 2012 competing in the 400 metres.

The six are classed as qualified A Grade athletes who have excelled at domestic meets and will be among 1300 contestants from 90 nations staking their claims at the meet ahead of the Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil in 2016.

One of them, Anil Prasanna Jayalath the Asian record holder in the 200 metres, has the potential to win a gold medal and his superior officer Brigadier JR Ampemohotti is upbeat that Sri Lankan Paralympians can be second to none.

"The six athletes are currently the best we have chosen and we are definitely targetting slots at the 2016 Paralympics", said Brigadier Ampemohotti who is the vice president of the Sri Lanka Army Paralympics Committee.

He has a bench-strength of more than 800 Para athletes in the running for selection come local or international meets.

Climbing up on stage at a function to support their cause and hopes of bagging a different kind of quarry, in this case medals, the six athletes not only projected their sporting determination but also an entity that must be a cut above the rest of the country's organizations that are supposed to take care of players and athletes.

"You belong to an organization (National Paralympic Committee) that is a model for others to follow. When most cannot even draw up their sporting calendars, you have led the way. Hopefully we can gain inspiration from you", said sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekera who was the chief guest at a send-off function held on Wednesday. The Army Paralympic Committee sees the six members, Anil Jayalath, Upul Chuladasa, Chaminda Hettiarachchi, Dinesh Herath, Amara Indumathi and Maduranga Alwis as ambassadors for change and perseverance in a country that talks more but delivers little or nothing.

The Super Six will contest events in the 100 and 200 metres, javelin and shot putt. They have pocketed medals at Asian and regional games but winning medals at the International Paralympics Championship (IPC) world meet in Doha could take the country's yearning for its differently-able athletes to an unseen level.

Their sponsor and chief benefactor Dialog, used Wednesday's occasion to hand over an undisclosed sum to both the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) and the Army Paralympic Committee.

Saumya Lepoddeniya, an army corporal who lost his eyesight when a mortar exploded in front of him on March 12, 2009 during the final stages of the battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mullaitivu, graced the occasion as the singing mascot of the six Paralympians who will take wing to the port city of Doha next week for the IPC meet scheduled to commence on October 21.