Sports fans in the country were shocked by the sudden death of athlete Kaushalya Madushani. She was an athlete who had a bright future. However, she is no longer in Sri Lanka athletics.
Sri Lankan athlete and the national women’s 400m hurdles champion Kaushalya Madushani committed suicide at her home in Dummalasuriya in Kuliyapitiya on April 24. She was a Lance Corporal in the Sri Lanka Army.
Madushani who was born on December 13, 1995, was the national record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. She had won that title five times and in her short sports career.
She had represented Sri Lanka on several occasions and won a few medals for the country. Kaushalya was a young and a very promising athlete nurtured by the Sri Lanka Army.
Kaushalya studied at KuIiyapitiya Central College and due to her prowess in athletes the Army invited her to join it. There she began to develop her track and field career.
In 2014, as a nineteen year old girl she won the Silver medal in the 400 metres at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in China Taipei.
The hurdles event could be described as the most scientific game among track and field events. Anyone who finds success in hurdles could be said to possess good mind power. For this reason it could be said that Kaushalya was a top athlete.
In 2016 she clinched the gold medal in the women’s 400m hurdles event at National Athletics Championships. It was her first national title and clinched the title as the best hurdler in the competition. In the same year she also claimed gold in the women’s 400m hurdles event at the National Sports Festival. Then she became well known as a national athlete till her untimely death.
Maiden South Asian medal
In 2016, she represented Sri Lanka at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, India, where she clinched a bronze medal.. That was her maiden South Asian medal. She claimed her second national title at the National Athletics Championships in 2017.
Two years later she represented Sri Lanka in the South Asian Games in Nepal and won two medals. In that event she won a Gold in the women’s 4×400 m relay event and won a Silver in the women’s 400m hurdles.
Talent scouts of the Sri Lanka Army spotted her prowess in hurdles and requested her to join the Army. She joined the Army as a Lance Corporal and continued her athletics career.
Her best performance was 58.16 seconds recorded In the same year she won her third national title in the 400m hurdles at the National Athletics Championships. She won the national title for the fourth time in the women’s 400m hurdles at the National Athletics Championships last year.
Last day
April 23 was the last day of her life. On that day she came to her residence in Dummalasooriya Kuliyapitiya with one of her best female friends. She was staying that night in Kaushalya’s house. On that day Kaushlaya’s mother had gone to another daughter’s house close to their home.
The following day, Kaushalya’s friend went to the ground for practises while she stayed behind. Later her elder sister Priyangani Susima called out to her to have breakfast. Kaushalya had said that she would come in a few minutes. But she never turned up. After a few hours another friend of hers and Priyangani came to the house and called out to her. But there was no reply. Then they looked through a window and saw her hanging from the roof with a rope around her neck.
The valuable and promising athlete had ended her life abruptly. Her death tells us that we must be concerned about the lives of athletes. It is the responsibility of society. The Youth Observer is publishing this article for this reason.
Kaushalya Madushani’s International achievements:
* 2014 - Silver medal at the Asian Junior Games
* 2016 - Bronze medal at the South Asian Games
* 2019 - Silver medal at the South Asian Games
* 2019 - Gold medal in the 4x400m at the South Asian Games
Investigation
Media Spokesman of Sri Lanka Army, Brigadier Nilantha Premaratne said that the Army is conducting an investigation.
“We do not know as yet the reason for her suicide. Her final race was at the Diyagama sports complex and I cannot say anything until investigations are completed,” he said.
Following the suicide, the Army has decided to have counselling sessions immediately for every Army sports person.
“We never expected this sudden and very unfortunate incident. However, it has happened. The Commander of the Army has advised us to conduct a full investigation and find the reason for her suicide and the inquiries are going on. We have also decided to conduct a counselling program to find out the mental health condition of sportsmen and women.. It will begin next week and start with our track and field athletes,” he said.