Already, three athletes have gained qualifying standards. They will be joined by two swimmers, a shooter and a badminton player. However the exact strength of the Sri Lankan contingent for the XXXIst Summer Olympic Games in Rio will be known after the International Olympic Committee deadline ends on July 4.

Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC), Maxwell de Silva said, “So far, three athletes have gained qualifying standards. Two swimmers, a shooter and a badminton player too have been included in the contingent. There is a possibility of golfer Mithun Perera also booking a place, subject to his performance at the ongoing tournaments before the IOC deadline.”

Anuradha Indrajith Cooray

Veteran marathon runners Anuradha Indrajith Cooray and Geethani Rajasekera were among the first to book their places after they gained qualifying standards in the men’s and women’s marathon respectively last year. The duo also represented Sri Lanka at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China.

In fact, this will be the third time that London-based Cooray will be representing Sri Lanka at an Olympic Games, having done so at Athens 2004 and London 2012. Susanthika Jayasinghe, the women’s 200m silver medalist at 2000 Games in Sydney, holds the record for most Olympic Games appearances by an Lankan athlete, having made it to the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games although she did not run in one of them due to an injury.

The 38-year-old long distance veteran was the first Lankan to assure a place at the Rio Games when he clocked two hours, 13 minutes and 47 seconds at last year’s London Marathon, thus bettering the men’s marathon Olympic qualifying time of 2:17.00. Geethani bettered her own Sri Lankan mark in the women’s marathon when she clocked two hours, 40 minutes and 7 seconds to finish fifth in the Asian Marathon last year. Her performance enabled the woman soldier to better her own previous Sri Lanka record of 2:47.55 and become the first Sri Lankan woman ever to compete at an Olympic marathon.

Airman Sumedha Ranasinghe, a product of Kegalle MV, is the other athlete who has qualified to compete in Rio. The ace men’s javelin thrower cleared a distance of 83.04m at the final South Asian Games selection trial at the Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex, slightly bettering the Olympic qualifying distance of 83.00m. His feat also accounted for a new Sri Lanka record, erasing the previous mark of 79.62m held by Sachith Maduranga since 2013.

US-born Mathew Abeysinghe is the sole men’s simmer in the Lankan contingent. He won a record seven gold medals – two silvers and a bronze to make it a record total of ten medals, at the last South Asian Games held in Guwahati, India early this year. Kimiko Raheem, who won five gold medals at the same Games will join Abeysinghe in taking Lanka’s challenge to the Olympic pool in Rio.

Shuttler Niluka Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s undisputed king in men’s singles will be making his way to his second successive Olympics, having competed in the London Games four years ago. Also competing in his second successive Olympics will be shooter Mangala Samarakoon, a bronze medallist at this year’s South Asian Games in India. He is expected to compete in the men’s 10m air rifle and 50m rifle prone events.

Although Sri Lanka expected a couple of wild card entries for a judoka and a weightlifter, it is unlikely that they would get an opportunity.

Nearly 10,500 sportsmen and women from 207 countries are expected to compete at the XXXIst summer Olympiad to be worked off in the Brazilian capital from August 5 to 21. Already, 8,255 competitors have confirmed their participation while the balance is expected to book their places within the next couple of weeks.

Rio will become the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics. The upcoming edition of the Olympics will be the first Games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held entirely during the host country’s winter season.

Among the record number of competitors and participating countries at Rio 2016 will be Kosovo and South Sudan which will be competing at an Olympic Games for the first time. A total of 306 sets of medals will be on offer under 28 disciplines, including Sevens rugby and golf, to be worked off at 33 venues in the host city and five other Brazilian cities – Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Manaus and the capital Brasilia.

Sri Lankan contingent for Rio 2016 Olympics:

Athletics: Anuradha Indrajith Cooray (men’s marathon),Geethani Rajasekera (women’s marathon),Sumedha Ranasinghe (men’s javelin throw)

Badminton: Niluka Karunaratne (men’s singles)

Swimming: Mathew Abeysinghe, Kimiko Raheem

Shooting: Mangala Samarakoon (men’s rifle).

Note: Subject additions by the deadline to gain qualifying standards.

High jumper Ranatunga from Godakawela Maha Vidyalaya cleared 2.13metres to win the gold medal, but was unfortunately failed to surpass the record which is owned by Milan Dissanayake. However Ranatunga’s jump also earned him the best jumper award.
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President Maithripala Sirisena handing over the best Male Athlete’s Award to Roshan Dhammika of Kularatne Central College, Godakawela.
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Young sprint queen of the meet, Rumeshika Ratnayake of St. Joseph’s Balika MV, Kegalle, receiving the best female athlete’s award from President Maithripala Sirisena. Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam looks on.

The champion high jumper enjoyed two silver medals at the recently concluded Asian Youth Championship and Commonwealth Youth Games, and represented the country at the the IAAF World Youth Championship this year and was the hot favourite to win the crown at this year’s All Island School Games

Meanwhile the young sprint sensation Rumeshika Kumari Ratnayake of St. Joseph’s Balika MV, Kegalle, clocked 11.95 seconds and 24.09 seconds in the 100 metre dash and 200 metres events, continuing to erase records.

In the girls Under-21 200metres, she erased the record set by Damayanthi Dharsha to prove her class, making her the top nominee for the best female athlete’s title. Rumeshika who secured the sixth place at the Asian Athletics Championship held earlier this year, has a 11.56 second-100 metre dash in her profile and is just behind Sri Lanka’s legendary Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha in the lest of country’s all time fastest women.

Unfortunately lack of competition during the two finals prevented her from making her best effort but she also sealed the best sprinter of the championship title as she collected 1027 IAAF points for her performance in the 200m.

Pasindu Bhawantha of Weera Keppetipola Central College Akuramboda was adjudged the best thrower for his record breaking effort of 57.77m in the boys Under-17 Discus Throw. Incidentally his twin brother Aruna Darshana also set two records in the 400m and 400m hurdles events.

Maris Stella College Negombo sealed the boys overall championship with 163 points, while A. Rathanayake Central College Walala (96) and St. Benedict’s College Kotahena (72) finished second and third respectvely. A Rathnayake Central College Walala sealed the girls’ overall championship with194 points in their possession while Sumana Balika Vidyalaya Rathnapura were the runner up with 147 points. St. Joseph’s BV Kegalle finished third with 141 points.

The record setters in the final day included S. Dilakshan of People’s College Jaffna who set a new meet record in the boys under-19 Pole Vault as he bettered the current national record holder Ishara Sandaruwan’s record of 4.31metres. St Benedict’s College’s Sahan Rajapaksa beat Gateway’s Asiri Wijesekara in the much awaited boys Under-17 100 metres final. In the relay events, Royal College under-15 4x400m team established a new record, clocking 3 minutes 35.37 seconds. St. Benedict’s College Kotahena were the proud owners of the other relay record of the day when they clocked 3 minutes 21.35 seconds in the boys Under-17 4x400m relay.

Chief Guest President Maithripala Sirisena, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam were among the dignitaries who gave away the trophies and awards at the conclusion of the meet.

Fifteen years ago we celebrated her victory of winning an Olympic medal for Sri Lanka and today I decided to attend this event as a tribute paid by the Head of State after 15 years and we share the same feeling of victory he said. President Sirisena also said that not only Susanthika, but anyone who achieves targets faces many obstacles, so what is important is to face them with courage like Susanthika herself did. When I was the Health Minister I could not work independently and if I could, I would have settled most of the problems in the health sector.

I know the field of sports was worse so I do not blame the former sports ministers for the set back we had in the field of sports during the recent past, President Sirisena said. As the government we have had many discussions on how to improve the standards of sports in our country and I’m sure there is a necessity of a broader plan and effective strategies to develop sports in the island he said. The ceremony was held to launch Susanthika Jayasinghe Athletic Academy, Susanthika Jayasinghe Sports Fund and to launch ‘ My Story’ Susanthika’s autobiography. Susanthika’s then coach and manager Tony Campbell who flew all the way from America to attend the 15th year celebration said it was really tough to work with Susanthika at the beginning. When I first met her in 1998 I did not know where Sri Lanka is , but after two years when she won the Olympic medal in Sydney the whole world could witness Sri Lankan flag being waved he said. It has been 15 years since Susanthika won an Olympic medal but through all those years Sri Lanka has not produced another Olympic prospect to follow Susanthika. I request the President, the sports minister and other authorities to start today itself and make a plan and put that plan into practice to find another few athletes to repeat what Susanthika did. Susanthika Jayasinghe speaking on the occasion thanked everyone who have helped her and wished the same for the proposed athletic academy.

President’s Counsel Kalinga Indathissa also recalled how Susanthika had to face many obstacles and finally how she managed to overcome them to win an Olympic medal. Roshan Dammika Ranathunge of Kularatne MMV who was adjudged the best male school athlete and his coach Tiran Gamage and best female school athlete Yamani Dulanjali of Ambagamuwa MMV and her coach Anura Bandara were also felicitated on the occasion. Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara, Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, former Sports Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Gamini Lokuge, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero, foreign diplomats, sports officials, celebrities and many distinguished guests were also present.

He further asked the Athletics Association to pick a super pool, the cream of top notch athletes in the country, to send them abroad to a country like Thailand for training as a short term solution for track issues. This was decided due to the lack of quality tracks in Sri Lanka as Sugathadasa Stadium is too dangerous, while Diyagama too isn’t in good condition.
Also, the minister added, he would take necessary steps to take over the Race Course ground which is under the control of Urban Development Authority now, to further modify it by adding a synthetic track as planned earlier.
“I have asked representatives from the foreign company which is responsible for laying of the Sugathadasa track to come and meet me, and after that I will try to give a solution to the Sugathadasa Stadium. We have signed an agreement as per their law when building this, which is ridiculous.”

Sri Lankan athletics is in a crucial stage. They are to tour India for the South Asian Games next year, which is scheduled to start on 10 January in Guwahati and Shillong in the Assam Province. Sri Lanka hopes to send a strong contingent of about 350 to the neighbouring country. The minister has also put forward a special Cabinet Paper asking to increase the present budget to Rs 250 Million or so to meet the expenses of South Asian Games.
Athletics has been the sport which has won the country’s only two Olympic medals and all Gold medals in the history of Asian Games, which is 10, even though all other sports gets a chance to participate in these Games. At the SAG, athletics had produced 52% of the Gold medals.

As the minister described, it will be vital for the athletes to win medals and show their class in order to work towards a long term plan within the country, where the minister said he would support the AASL to establish three pools – senior, junior and youth – and maintain those pools with long term goals. Also, the minister promised a special payment for coaches during these three months ahead of the SAG, and will introduce a long term plan to sort out problems regarding their financial situation.
“It is important to have a good link between school coaches and National coaches, and a systematic evaluation of athletes who will be identified and trained by school coaches and then handed over to National coaches for further training. We should establish these understandings in order to move forward” said the Minister, who also said he would try to bring back retired javelin thrower Sachith Maduranga to the field, who is just 25-years old and still could do a lot for the country.

Coaches who were present at the occasion presented numerous pressing matters to the minister. They pointed out the lack of equipment at training venues and officers to maintain and control the issue of equipment. Also, it was pointed out the lack of knowledge among coaches and non-availability of literature for them to learn, and coaches pointed out even though senior coaches of Sri Lanka produced Olympic winners like Susanthika Jayasinghe, the new age coaches find it hard to learn those methods and techniques to coach such athletes due to lack of a knowledge base and labs. Also they pointed out the lack of using technical equipment for training and testing athletes in the country. The minister promised to get the required technical equipment as soon as possible.

The Sports Medical Unit was criticized during the occasion. Senior coaches pointed out athletes do not have confidence in the Sports Medical Unit which lacks talented doctors who could treat athletes well, while they also pointed out lack of physiotherapists. Lack of support from the ground staff at Sugathadasa Stadium was criticized and the minister said this has happened due to political appointments and he will personally inform them to perform the duties expected of them.
Today Sri Lanka Athletics is in a deep hole with lack of international medal winners. The country’s ability to secure just one Silver medal during the last Asian Championship confirms the country’s failure on the international stage.

Nevertheless, the five year delay of the South Asian Games was one reason behind that failure, as athletes did not have centre stage to excel and earn recognition. New Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara proved he is trying to create a difference to athletics during his meeting with a number of the country’s top coaches. He also visited the athlete’s hostel, and said he is going to ask for a further budget to start payments to the pooled athletes throughout the year as it used to be earlier. But he said performance at the SAG would be crucial to do all that, and failure here will make it hard for him to allocate bigger funds for projects to athletics.