Sugath wants the glory days back again
The time frame of 1990-2000 could be considered as the golden era of Sri Lanka athletics, especially in sprint events. Some of the athletes that became household names were Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Dharsha, Sriyani Kulawansa, Mahesh Perera, Dhammika Menike and Sriyantha Dissanayake. Most of them, now retired from athletics and well settled in life, will reunite around former 400metre sprinter Sugath Thilakaratne with one objective in mind.
That is to bring back the glory days of athletics or even a step further and create a base that would last for many years to come as the former sprinter turns a new chapter in sports as an administrator – as the President of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL).
Thilakaratne, who has won a gold medal each from the Asian Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan and Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand in 1998 and a bronze each from the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in 1998 and the Asian Championships held in Colombo in 2002 has many international accolades to his credit besides competing at Asian level. He has represented Sri Lanka at four IAAF World Championships, two IAAF World Cups and two Summer Olympic Games – in 1996 in Atlanta, USA and in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. One of his biggest achievements was beating star 400metre sprinter Michael Johnson in a preliminary round at the Atlanta Olympics.
His new role as the President of AASL from May 15 will be a more challenging one. But with his one-time buddies on track around, Thilakaratne comes out with fresh ideas, having being there at thick and thin as an athlete.
“I have spoken to a few colleagues as the President of AASL will be eligible to appoint 10 members into the committee. So far Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha have confirmed that they will join in. Most of my colleagues have already spoken to me and they are keen to have a discussion on how we could contribute back to athletics and put it back on track. We are planning to meet somewhere in Colombo in a few days and have a serious chat on how we could make our contributions back as former athletes who represented the country at the highest level. They are keen to see athletics and AASL blossom again,” a rejuvenated Thilakaratne told the Sunday Times.
Besides Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha some who have already given their consent to join hands with Thilakaratne are Sriyani Kulawansa, Chinthaka Soyza, V. Rathnakumara, Chandani Jayaweera and Dhammika Menike. With them around and with most of the affiliated clubs and associations backing him, Thilakaratne believes he could finally be satisfied that he is getting an opportunity to pay back.
“I’m full of confidence that we could bring a positive change. Most office bearers alongside me are rookies to administration. But we have the backing of seasoned veterans and administrators from yesteryear. None, from my era, got any opportunity to serve as an administrator and contribute back to the sport. Many tried but were shunned from entering the doors of AASL. I will be the first from the lot to take that challenge,” he added.
Thilakaratne will be the sole runner for the top post of the AASL after the nomination of Uva Province Chief Minister Hareen Fernando was rejected by its General Committee last week. After Fernando decided not to seek legal assistance on his rejection, retired DIG of Police, Upali Kumarasiri will be the other contender for the post of President but Thilakaratne is the virtual winner with many of the AASL affiliates supporting him. Thilakaratne, having being shown the door out twice before contesting as one of the seven Vice Presidents, is confident that he and his new brand of office bearers could bring a radical yet effective change in athletics.
“This time all the veteran officials will not get the opportunity to contest according to new laws. There are others, who were former star athletes such as Susanthika (Jayasinghe), but even she will be eligible to contest. I waited for this opportunity for a long time and with the positive response from those around and in the athletic circle, I think it’s the correct time to enter athletics as an administrator and serve the sport and country.”
“My intention is to bring back athletics in Sri Lanka back to its state when we were competing, which undoubtedly can be termed as the golden era. As an athlete I have gone through tough times, worked with passion and with great dedication reached the summit. My objective is to explore the possibilities of bringing back those glorious days, even go a step further and preserve it for many years as possible. With the corporation I’m receiving from former athletes, mostly my colleagues, former administrators and coaches, I think we can look forward for a better change and make track and field events more productive,” a confident Thilakaratne stressed.
The biggest yet unseen challenge Thilakaratne and his soon-to-be elected AASL office bearers will be the underhand work by certain one-time officials of the body. Thilakaratne sees no hidden hands even to hand him a last-minute challenge. He stated that even if there is another contestant coming on for this position there will not be any problem as out of 38 affiliations to AASL, over 20 have nominated him as its next boss
“I don’t have any doubt if anyone comes to contest me. We will need to work as a unit with great understanding. Individually we need to fulfil our given roles. I think will be able to work freely in the coming two years.”
The humble and down to earth man he is, Thilakaratne never put a step forward to criticize the current or former regime stating that “all are trying to do a perfect job”. But he was critical on the present-day coaches and of the selections that took place in the recent past.
“There were good as well as bad. As an association the AASL plays a huge role. Yes, there are visible mishaps that have been there for many years. But I personally see a different approach from many coaches, now they look for financial benefits. Most coaches, some of them well known, tend to coach schools. Actually they should be in the national grid serving the country. But it has reached that level where no one can find their faults. This culture must change. Even during our days, the head of AASL was not a coach, so is its present head. Every individual has their role to play as administrators and I think that’s what should take place. There are shortcomings in selection.”
In selections my policy will be go for the best and the most suitable. No one, athletes or coaches should be left heartbroken. These days we are discussing on the names for the selection committee. We have top coaches, former athletes and great veterans of the sport and the names will be shortlisted before being forwarded to the Minister of Sport at the correct time,” he emphasised.
He believes that Sri Lanka still has talented athletes and a comprehensive programme is needed to scout them and bring them to the required international status. As the breeding grounds for the whole process are the schools, he sees a failure somewhere in the pipeline where top school athletes go off colour when reaching the national grid.
“We need to work along with Ministries of Sports and Education and bring out a comprehensive plan to preserve the talents. Yes we are sketching out a plan after observing the present state of athletics and AASL. We did make plans from time to time, not to implement by ourselves but to give them as proposals to the then administrators and Ministers of Sports during the past ten years. But all those ended up in the bin. We have a plan for four years. We will need time, like three months to get accustomed to the system. But it will not affect any of the ongoing processes in the fields of training, coaching and other aspects.”
Thilakaratne, who entered the field of athletics in 1991, says he has seen many officials come in and go out of AASL, many as volunteers and some, who are even office, with different agendas. But with a totally new set of administrators who has fresh ideas and good professional backgrounds, the former sprinter dubbed ‘Dynamo of Norton Bridge’ is confident that he can walk out with the same pair of clean hands he walks in on May 14 after the AASL elections.
“I do my own business which is sufficient to find a decent monthly income. I don’t have big dreams of becoming a business magnet or a tycoon. I was employed for some time and now I’m doing my own thing in a small scale but going strong. I have fulfilled all the requirements to compete for a position at AASL and I come with a clean hand. And when I leave I want to leave the same way but after putting everything in its proper slots, so no one will be able to point the finger towards me or any of the officials worked with me.
My intention will be to complete the tenure of two years and leave office with grace. The four-year plan that I told about can be carried on by those who succeed us. If there are shortcomings from us at that time they could correct them, or if things are running smooth they can move forward with it and complete the mission. If we try to run over each other as officials, athletics will stagnate and eventually it will be the biggest loser,” Thilakaratne determinedly stated.