Sri Lanka has set about a daunting task but ambitiously to groom medal winning athletes in preparation for the 2036 Olympic Games to be held in India. This program began last year with about 30 young athletes included into the pool that will be looked after by the lead coordinators. The number of athletes will be added annually depending on their achievements.
Talavou Alailima speaking to the media
Vision 2036 is the bold initiative to secure at least ten Olympic medals for Sri Lanka and the committee is led by Talavou Alailima and comprises veteran national sportsmen, senior sports administrators and passionate professional leaders who initiated this committee. This long term development agenda falls in line with the ‘Lion Warrior’ program that will provide comprehensive support to leading school athletes currently dominating in their respective event.
The Vision 2036 initiative, under its Lion Warrior Sports High-Performance Program, physically transforms schools sports champions into world beaters through elite training programs, nutrition support structures, bio mechanical assessments, competition mindset mastery, sports medicine intervention and world class mentorship and competition exposure.
Already the committee has obtained the services of six sponsors and the MOU has been signed with them. They will provide all the necessary assistance to develop the athletes to perform at their best ability.
Interestingly, there is a young javelin thrower who is seeded nine in the world ranking. He has thrown the javelin to a distance of 85 metres in an international meet to achieve this ranking. The top ranked athlete at Olympic level has also thrown the javelin to a distance of 88 metres which is only three metres more than done by this Sri Lankan athlete.
Lead coordinators are, Talavou Alailima (Chairman), Group Cpt. Nalin de Silva, Gen Rohana Bandara, Gregory de Silva, Manoj Algama, Gen. Kapila Knowlton, Fabian Angunawela, Rajiva Wijetunga, Ravi Perera, Dr. Seevali Jayawickrama, Chandana Ekanayake, Hassan Singhawansa, Thilan Rangana and Sanjaya Gamlath.
