Out to reform Athletics Association | Sunday Observer
Ranga Wimalawansa

Out to reform Athletics Association

24 April, 2022

“No any hidden agenda behind my criticism”

Plans to build international indoor athletics ground in Sri Lanka

Ranga Wimalawansa is an Olympian in Sri Lanka sports. He has won Asian, South Asian medals in athletics. Today he vehemently criticizes the Sri Lanka Athletics Association.

The Youth Observer met him to find out the reason for his criticism of the athletics set up in Sri Lanka.

Q: Ranga, what are you doing these days? These days we hear about you and your new approach?

A: I am running an athletic club called ‘’Race Course Athletic club’’ at Torrington. We conduct training programs for children. A large number of children come here to learn and practice basic athletics knowledge.

Q: Is it true that the club does not charge a fee to provide the training?

A: Yes. We conduct free training sessions. The ‘Race Course Athletic club’ is the only club that provides free training facilities for any school athlete. We launched the program after full observation of our athletes’ economy. We know most of our athletes do not come from wealthy families. Most of them are from the poorest families in the country. That is the reality. Due to this most parents do not encourage their children to take up athletics and the setting up of this club is an attempt to find a solution to this problem. My personal attempt is to keep athletics going for the future generation otherwise it will die a natural death.

Q: That is a strong statement. Why do you say so?

A: If you look at the number of medals our athletes have won over the past years you will see what I mean. Have we won a medal at the Asian Games after 2006? Have we won an Olympic medal or have we qualified to send a relay to the Olympics after 2000? No, we have not.

Q: Isn’t this due to a problem of skill?

A: That is the reality. But, nobody is coming forward to say this openly. Most of them are afraid to speak out openly as the Sri Lanka Athletics Association officials will take revenge by not giving them overseas tours. So they keep silent. This situation helps the officials who control the Association to do as they please.

The president of the Association does not know what has to be done for the game. The secretary is around 83 years old. They must retire as they have been holding office for over 10 years and athletics has not been developed. What do you say to that? Don’t you agree with me?

Q: Today, several athletes undergo overseas training. Some are in Italy and a few in America. Isn’t that so?

A: Do you think these players went abroad with the support of the Association? No. That is far from the truth. Most of them spent out of their pocket to go abroad for training. Some have friends or relatives to support them in those countries.

But the Athletics Association is trying to show that athletes are going abroad for training with its support. That is a joke. Anurada Indrajith Cooray went to England for training with my help. But the Association pretends that they were people who did it.

Q: You have accused the Association of not providing a timing display board. Today they use a timing display board. What was the issue about?

A: The timing display board helps athletes who hope to participate in international meets to know their achievements (time or distance). This helps them to calculate their speed and skills at every attempt. However our players could not do that. They ran blindly. How could one develop one’s skills like that?

It was after I revealed this fact that they got down a small timing display board. But, it is difficult to read it during the race. The athletes cannot see it properly.

A display board would provide a transparent system to record national records that are broken. Otherwise how can we believe it? I heard that this small display board was bought in Belgium. I have some questions regarding its price too. It should be investigated.

Association officials don’t understand the value of a split second to an athlete. They do things as they wish. If this continues, it will be the end of athletics.

Q: Your criticism seems to indicate that you are trying to compete for a post in the Athletics Association?

A: I pointed out the faults of the Association not to gain positions but to develop athletics. I believe the Association must be governed by retired athletes. The trouble is that those without any athletic background are trying to control it. A group of athletes who love the sport should take control of the Association. One person alone cannot do it.

Q: How about Saturday’s family run? Is it not held now?

A: No, it has not been stopped. It is a program to build the fitness of people. It was launched by former Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa and is a very worthy project.

Q: We heard that you plan to launch a multi-million athletics project. Could you give me some details?

A: Yes. It is an indoor athletics ground. I have negotiated with Chinese investors attached to another project in the country. The project will be ongoing and we must find land close to Colombo. The investors are keen to build the indoor athletic track with all facilities. I hope to fulfill this task within the next few years. It will be useful for us and we can conduct international indoor athletics meets in the near future. Today, this is my major dream.

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