Samudra Devi school girl Sithuli, 15, soars into the national limelight in high jump
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Sithuli begins her run up in the high jump event
A puny 15-year-old girl from Samudra Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Nugegoda Sithuli Sadithya is emerging as an athletic prodigy after soaring into the limelight at the National Athletic Trials in April with a record-breaking performance in the high jump.
She won the Junior Women category with a leap of 1.67metres which surpassed the best effort of 1.65m in the Women’s Open final to come under the radar of the National Olympic Committee and be included in the NOCSL-Crysbro Next Champ programme.
Sithuli has been described as a phenomenal talent by his coach K.K.D. Nipuna Nirmal who has mapped a plan for the youngster to achieve the qualifying standard for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“I have not seen anyone in her age group achieving the mark of 1.67m in the women’s high jump,” said Nirmal, who was an outstanding Sri Lanka junior athlete setting records of 1.86m in the under-15 All-Island meet and 1.93m at the Junior Nationals in the high jump.
A self-taught athlete who could not make it to the IAAF World Youth Athletic Championships in 2007 despite being selected to represent the country, the 29-year-old former Air Force star has turned his attention to coaching. He is dedicating his efforts to produce high jump champions arming himself with an IAAF Level 1 certification and runs an academy in the Sports Complex at Diyagama.
“Sithuli came to me when she was 12 years old. She had excelled in the hurdles and long jump events winning at circuit and zonal meets. I told her she can go a long way in the high jump,” said Nirmal, who is attached to Lyceum College, Wattala.
After Sithuli came under his watch, her career took off dramatically being adjudged Best Athlete at the Western Province meet in 2019 where she set a new high jump record of 1.50m in the under-14 category. A freak accident resulting in a leg injury and the onset of COVID-19 stalled her progress momentarily but undeterred by these setbacks Sithuli bounced back to win her event at the National Trials. Now she is primed to create history at the forthcoming 99th National Athletic Championships.
“She is a dedicated athlete who trained at home and followed the training schedules to keep fit during the covid period when there were restrictions last year,” said Nirmal who has set out a roadmap beginning with the Nationals. His target is for Sithuli to raise the bar by clearing 1.70-1.73m this year, 1.75-1.78m next year and 1.83m in 2023.
“The aim is to target the Sri Lanka women’s high jump record (1.85m) and doing a 1.90 to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard in 2024,” he added.
Sithuli with her coach Nipuna Nirmal
The eldest in a family of two girls, Kaluarachchige Sithuli Sadithya showed an inclination for sports from a tender age being a daredevil of sorts and not being afraid of climbing heights. “She went for gymnastics in grade two and three. Her father then enrolled Sithuli at NYSC (National Youth Services Council) in Maharagama where she was coached by Jagath de Silva and showed an aptitude for the short sprints, hurdles and long jump events taking part in school, circuit and zonal meets,” said Sithuli’s mother Akila Madubashini who is virtually her guardian since her father Ruwan Dhammika is employed overseas. “She is an all-rounder when it comes to sports, mentally strong and loves music,” she added. Sithuli also made special mention of the encouragement given by her mother’s sister Shalika Priyangani, manager at a leading bank.
Indeed, despite being of average height and looking frail physically, she has a big heart and determination to overcome obstacles. “I am not scared of heights,” said Sithuli who combines the elasticity of a gymnast and superb technique to perfect the Fosbury flop with ease every time she attempts to clear the bar in the high jump.
“I still practice hurdles and do power training,” said Sithuli, who is doing her O/Ls next year and balances her education and sports equally well. Her role models in the sport are US-based Sri Lanka record holder in the men’s high jump Ushan Thiwanka Perera and Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko and have lofty ambitions of becoming an airline pilot.