Making Supun blossom the way he should
Elitism in the field of Athletics in Sri Lanka ended quite some time ago. If the results of any major athletics championship are perused, the dominance of rural athletes can be observed. Right now, one of the Jewels in the Athletics crown is a lad by the name of Supun Viraj Randeniya who seems to be going from success to success in the shorter hurdles event.
Born on 11th March 1994, Randeniya started out at the Patha Dumbara Maha Vidyalaya where he did well in the High Jump and Long Jump events at under 11 level under the guidance of Sandya Kodituwakku. Having been successful at the highly competitive entrance exam, he changed over to Ranabima Royal College Gannoruwa. Here, he came under the guidance of Chanaka Soysa, but only for a year.
Thereafter, Lakshman Hapuarachchi, a member of the staff of Ranabima Royal, has been his coach. The bond between pupil and coach is a strong one, and Randeniya has implicit faith in his present mentor.
Supun receiving award for most outstanding athlete.
Hapuarachchi saw him Jumping and suspected that he was a potential hurdler. When asked to switch, Randeniya preferred to perform the Jumps but agreed to try the hurdles. The 2007 John Tarbat meet at Anuradhapura changed all that competing in the under 14 hurdles event, Randeniya bagged the silver.
A year later, he had stopped jumping. He won the hurdles event at the next John Tarbat meet at Embilipitiya. In 2009, he set a record (13.35) in the under 16 hurdles at the senior Tarbat and was voted the best athlete at the 2010 National School Meet. He literally flew over the hurdles in the under 17 event to set the Sugathadasa Stadium alight.
His first tour abroad was in 2011 for the Junior Commonwealth Championships at the Isle of Man. Running at under 18 level, he finished seventh with a timing of 14.06 the fastest he had recorded.
One of the high points of his career was the bronze medal he won at the Asian Junior athletics championships held in Colombo. The Captain of the Sri Lanka team, Randeniya rates this best performance. The event was won by a Thai in 13.84 seconds. A Chinese Taipei athlete came second in 13.86 while Randeniya returned 13.94. Prior to the race he was ranked 16th. He was 6th after the heats and took bronze in the final.
Participating in the world junior championships at Barcelona in 2012, he came up in the 13.90 in the heats. Sadly, he sustained a ham-string injury in the semi-final.
A 14.49 at the National Athletics Championship trails saw him take first place shortly after, he ran at an international meet in Macao and struck gold in 14.46. He was improving all the time. The recent national schools meet saw him run a sensational 14.30 in the 110 meters hurdles (under 21). He broke a record that had stood for nineteen years in doing so. Nationally, he walked away with the award for the most outstanding Athlete.All play and no work has certainly not made Randeniya a dull boy. He obtained nine ‘A’s at the O/L exam and has just sat his A/L exam in Commerce Subjects he stands out among his peers by the fact that his spoken English is quite good.
Randeniya says that he has problems regarding training facilities and nutrition. He hastens to mention that these are common to other athletes too.
Sri Lanka’s athletics officials should ensure that this lad does not become another talent “that is born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness on the desert air” (Gray’s Elegy). Randeniya must be given foreign exposure now.
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