Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) will be celebrating its centenary this year and the sport can proudly claim to have produced the country’s only two Olympic medallists – Duncan White and Susanthika Jayasinghe. There is no doubt that athletics is the mother of all sports and is second to only cricket in terms of popularity in Sri Lanka but the step-motherly treatment given to sports in the school curriculum is a major concern.
“They discourage sports in the schools curriculum in this country. You will find that schools only concentrate on education here unlike in other countries. Schools should allow children to participate in all sports activities so that they can produce a healthy nation for Sri Lanka,” said SLA president Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando (rtd) who was of the opinion that sports activities must be an integral part of the education curriculum in schools.
“But what has happened is sports are not encouraged in schools. This has been the practice for the last so many years. They (school children) should be encouraged to participate in all sports activities,” reiterated Fernando, an outstanding schoolboy athlete himself, speaking on the sidelines of a press conference to announce details of the 100th National Athletic Championship to be held from April 8 to 10 at Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex in Diyagama.
“There are only a few sports bodies in Sri Lanka that have been in existence for 100 years. It is a significant landmark. In fact SLA is the third oldest athletic association in Asia after Japan and South Korea, the first in South Asia and 40th in the world,” underscored Fernando.
“We can expect some record-breaking performances on the newly laid track at Diyagama. It is a nice environment. About 500 spectators can be accommodated there. We hope to invite about 200 schoolchildren to witness the meet,” he said adding that Diyagama was also chosen because the Sugathadasa Stadium is undergoing renovation work.
Asked why an Olympic medal winning sport has yet to capture the imagination of the public, Fernando replied: “This is the second most popular sport in Sri Lanka. Even the cricketers they start with athletics. They have to run, jump and throw. They produce bowlers because of throwing capacity. They need sprinting ability to run between wickets or on the field. These three (running, jumping, throwing) are the basics. Whether it is cricket, football or rugby, everything is common to these three activities.”
He pointed out that the covid situation which started in 2019 had turned everything upside down. “After that people were reluctant to even get out of their houses. Now the people are coming out. You can see a large number of athletes are training in the grounds now,” said Fernando pleased with the progress Sri Lanka has made in athletics during the past 100 years.
“The only two medals we have at the Olympics are from athletics. We have won a medal at the World Championship, some 27 medals at the Asian Games and over 500 at the South Asian Games,” he said paying a tribute to past coaches and officials who have contributed to this effort.
A total of 735 entries (520 men and 215 women) have entered the 100th Athletic Nationals which will see athletes from Maldives, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia participating. He also thanked SLT Mobitel chairman Rohan Fernando for sponsoring the championship. “SLT Mobitel supports not only athletics but every sport,” he said.
The SLA president expects some top performances in the 100m, 400m, Javelin Throw, Long Jump, Triple Jump, 110m
metres hurdles (men) and 100m, 800m, 1500m and Long Jump (women) among other events at the Nationals which will serves as the final trial for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
“Our aim is to win five or six medals at the Asian Games. It will be a big triumph if we achieve that goal which is a possibility. We can five medals without any fuss,” he said.