President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Suresh Subramanium claims that he has many ideas on how to produce another medal winner by the year 2028 while noting that the country has just two successful Olympians in Duncan White and Susanthika Jayasinghe in 52 years.
Subramanium confessed that Sri Lanka has abundant talent among athletes who are often seen running around bare foot until they develop into a top level athlete and come into recognition.
“Athletics is one of the cheapest sports to indulge in. They begin running around bare feet. I will pick some of the most talented athletes and provide them with all facilities until they reach international level,” Subramanium pledged.
“I want to uplift their standards by providing them with shoes, clothing and finances so that they do not have to worry about how to find the money to put food on the table. If an athlete has to worry about these things then they cannot go about with their training schedules.
“Some of them will have to live closer to their training venues and have to find accommodation. I will look into all their needs if they are ready to set their goal in winning an Olympic medal,” assured Subramanium.
“I took over the presidency of the NOC with the intention of grooming Olympic medal winners and will not leave office without achieving this goal.”
The last Olympic medal winner Jayasinghe was from a rural area and brought to Colombo to be groomed further when her talent was spotted and underwent training at the Sports Ministry ground in Torrington and elsewhere.
“She was sent to the USA for further training for many years and made good use of these opportunities,” noted Subramanium.