The great Paralympic journey of a regenerated Para Athlete
There was much anticipation when the nine-member contingent departed for the Paralympics this year, and there was hope about the prospect of bettering Sri Lanka’s medal tally in Tokyo.
The athletes were able to reap the rewards for their commitment and dedication when Javelin Thrower Dinesh Priyantha Herath clinched the gold medal making Sri Lanka proud with a world record throw of 67.79m in the F46 category. Samitha Dulan Kodituwakku followed his colleague as he sealed the bronze medal in the F64 category of the same event.
The Tokyo Paralympics is considered a historic event in Sri Lankan sporting annals. The rest of the athletes were motivated and they were determined to achieve something significant at this global showpiece.
Among the athletes Kumudu Priyanka’s participation was even more significant as she was the only civilian included in the nine-member contingent. She also became the second female Para Athlete to represent the country after Amara Indumathi, who participated at the London Paralympics 2012 and the Rio Paralympics 2016.
Kumudu’s life story is an interesting one. She emerges from the village of Horabokka in the Monaragala district. She attended Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya, Horabokka where she studied up to Ordinary Level. At School she participated in Inter-House games and did athletics as an extra-curricular activity.
However she had no intention of perusing a career in sports.
Her life took a turn when she had to encounter a horrific incident at the tender age of 16. She was an innocent victim of a grenade explosion which was a frequent occurrence during the civil war and the result was the loss of vision in one eye and the loss both wrists.
It took her months to realise what had happened to her wonderful life. She regarded it as a nightmare.
“It was like a bad dream. But the reality is that I had lost both of my wrists and I had lost vision of one of my eyes. I was obviously depressed at the time because I knew I will not have the opportunity to live an ordinary life anymore, but the disability has opened a new chapter in life,” she told the Sunday Times.
The regeneration of her life began when she met Premadasa Dissanayake, who was the president of Sri Lanka Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (SLFRD) and invited Kumudu to join the Rehab Lanka Sports Club and convinced her to become a para athlete.
In 2006 she began to prosper as a para athlete. This was exactly a year after she had lost hope in life.
According to Kumudu, being a para athlete gave her the confidence to move forward in life and freedom to express herself on and off the field.
As time went by she began to master the 100m and 200m events in her first few years and she also went on to take part in the 400 m event. She did those until the end of 2018. Now she only focuses on 100m and long jump events.
Kumudu first participated at the Para Athletic Championship in 2006 and won gold medals in 100m, 200m and long jump events. She clinched her first international medal the same year, when she won the silver medal in 200m at the Open Championship in Malaysia.
Kumudu’s highest achievement at international level was in 2010 at the Para Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. There she won the bronze medal in the combined category (T45, T46, and T47) with her personal best timing of 28.58s.
She also holds a world record for her performance in 2010 in the T45 category for the 200m event, and still remains unbroken.
In 2014 she was able to reach one category higher, T46. She achieved her highest achievement in long jump event during Para Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she won the bronze medal.
Leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she was in a good frame as she won the bronze medal in long Jump at the Dubai Grand Prix 2021. She achieved her personal best during the Tokyo Paralympics in the T47 Women’s long jump category. She is satisfied with her own performance and has no regrets in missing out on a medal.
“Representing my country at Paralympics was a dream for me. Especially with the challenge of a global pandemic, I am proud of myself and the team. Even though I wasn’t able to win a medal this time, I am pleased about the fact that I was able to record my best jump at the long jump event (4.92m). My preparation was very good and I am satisfied with my performance,” she said.
She praised the Paralympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports for their support and encouraging them to take their performances to greater heights and as a senior para athlete who has been observing the developments for 15 years, she is quite optimistic about the future of para sports in Sri Lanka.
Kumudu paid tribute to former president of the Rehab Lanka, late Premadasa Dissanayake. She did not forget to thank her coaches Opanayake, Susantha Somakumara, Nimal Dharmarathne and Harijan Ratnayake. She also mentioned her place of employment MAS Unichela for their unstained support.
Up to now Kumudu Priyanka has won seven medals at international stage. For the time being her primary focus will be to maintain the momentum until the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.