How Susanthika was framed by our AAA

By Mihiri Wikramanayake

It's been a few days since Sri Lanka's heroine returned home. Susanthika Jayasinghe returned early last Tuesday morning, to a welcome by the people. However, this time, unlike the previous time, she was ignored by the state. She came back with a medal hanging proudly around her neck. A feat of courage and determination that made a lot of fellow countrymen and angry officials eat their own words. Words and deeds fuelled by debasement and corruption.

Susanthika Jayasinghe, the girl who came from the rubber plantation of Uduwaka, and ran her race to recognition, has been beset by endless allegations and counter allegations.

Biggest of all was when Sri Lanka's own athletic bureacrats got together to 'fix' her, and almost succeeded to ban her from running in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

It was after the Athens Games in 1997, in which she won a silver medal, that things turned sour for Ms. Jayasinghe's quest for an Olympic medal. Sri Lanka's one major hope for a Sydney 2000 Olympic medal was to turn into an international fiasco. The Sunday Times has obtained documents, not previously published, that show how Ms. Jayasinghe was framed by Sri Lanka's own athletics officials and how she was almost deprived of a place at the Sydney Olympics.

August 1997

- World Athletics Championships, Athens.

Ms. Jayasinghe wins the silver medal in the women's 200m. She returns to a heroine's welcome with full state patronage.

She is met at the airport by Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake and a whole host of other government dignitaries and is taken to Temple Trees in a motorcade where she is presented to the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Shortly thereafter, Ms. Jayasinghe claims that a prominent government VIP made sexual advances and that she resisted such advances. She said that she had told him that she was already married and to leave her alone.

10 Sept 1997

- The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), writes to the Amateur Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AAA) that they want to do a random dope test on her and request the AAA to provide them with Ms. Jayasinghe's whereabouts. Only an International Doping Control Officer (IDCO) appointed by the IAAF can do such a test and as Sri Lanka did not have an accredited representative the IAAF had requested for her whereabouts. The reason they wanted to test Ms. Jayasinghe was because she was, by now, one of the top 30 athletes of the world. They had asked for a reply within 14 days. The AAA replies saying that they do not know of Ms. Jayasinghe's whereabouts.

(Ms. Jayasinghe claims that she had requested the AAA to have her urine tested on three occasions with fear of being disqualified.)

27 Feb 1998

- Almost five months later, the AAA writes to Dr. Gabriel Dolle, (IAAF) saying that Sri Lanka is equipped to carry out out-of-competition testing programs on their athletes.

2 March 98

- The IAAF faxes to the AAA (Sri Lanka) congratulating Sri Lanka's initiative to carry out such testing programs - however, reminds the AAA to inform them of the specific whereabouts of Ms. Jayasinghe as previously requested by the IAAF Anti Doping Department.

4 March 1998

- Urine samples were obtained by the AAA from five Sri Lankan athletes on the basis that it was done pursuant to the decision of the AAA and dispatched to Australia for examination and analysis.This was a "National Testing Programme" of the AAA and not testing carried out by the IAAF. Ms. Jayasinghe protests at the manner in which the testing and sealing of the samples was carried out.

She claims that the two samples were not sealed in her presence but placed in a rigifoam box together with the other 10 bottles.

The testing was done in the presence of a sports doctor. Ms. Jayasinghe makes a note of this and the doctor attests it.

It must also be noted that 12 sample bottles were obtained for the purpose of testing the athletes. To date, the AAA has not been able to produce the two unused bottles.

27 March 1998

- The Australian laboratory confirms that Ms. Jayasinghe's urine sample tests' positive for nandrolone metabolites. The test also indicates that the sample was "about 10 times more concentrated…."

A hand-written letter from the Secretary of the AAA was sent to Ms. Jayasinghe through her coach informing her that she has been found positive and calling for her explanation. She is immediately suspended by the AAA pending the hearing.

The IAAF in their newsletter dated April 1998, refers to the positive testing of Ms. Jayasinghe as a "part of the Sri Lanka Amateur Athletics Association Out-of-Competition testing program." However, in their (the IAAF) list of positive cases, pending hearing or sanctioned indefinitely, Ms. Jayasinghe's name does not appear along with the others.

1 April 1998

- A reminder is delivered at 5.15 p.m. to Ms. Jayasinghe by special post, giving her an ultimatum to respond by 3rd April, 1998.

1 April 1998

- Ms. Jayasinghe responds expressing her surprise at the speed in which the AAA was acting and that her explanation was ready and the translated version (into English) will be submitted on April 6th.

However, on 3rd April, Ms. Jayasinghe sent her explanation. She reiterates sexual harassment charges against "a very high person in the Ministry of Sports." She explains how she was given a dark brown coloured tablet one to be used three times a day for nearly three months so that she gets physically stronger.

Thereafter, she was given a small white tablet to be taken once a day by her coach and doctor. She denies having taken any drug that is banned or prohibited. She requests the IAAF, through the AAA, to investigate whether the bottles containing her urine samples had been switched and to conduct another urine test with the concurrence of the IAAF, "but without any input from the Ministry of Sports" and calls for an opportunity to clear her name through a truly independent test.

10 April 1998

- The AAA appoints a panel of the AAA calling for Ms. Jayasinghe to prove her innocence.

19 May 1998

- The sports physician confirms by letter that he did indeed inject Ms. Jayasinghe with Voltaren injections for relief from migraine headaches.

14 July 1998

- The panel fails to establish that Ms. Jayasinghe was guilty of a doping offence. They failed to establish the competence of the doctor concerned during the out-of-competition dope testing, whether the doctor sealed the urine sample containers in compliance with the rules of the IAAF, and that the AAA had violated the IAAF rules by not informing Ms. Jayasinghe about the testing of the B Sample at which she had a legitimate right to be present or represented. The panel ordered all disciplinary proceedings against Ms. Jayasinghe be dismissed.

5 November 1998

- The IAAF, in a fax, turns down the request by the AAA for the reinstatement of Ms. Jayasinghe. They recommend that the IAAF Council refer the case to arbitration.

25 November 1998

- The IAAF sends a notice of referral to arbitration before the Arbitration Panel of the IAAF. They inform the AAA that the conclusions arrived at, by the AAA, are invalid and that Ms. Jayasinghe should be declared ineligible for competition for two years from the date of the offence.

23 February 1999

- The AAA of Sri Lanka sends a statement to the IAAF in support of Ms. Jayasinghe. They state that Ms. Jayasinghe's "conduct has been rather shaky creating a certain sense of suspicion." They also state that "her level of education and intelligence had been rather immature."

They stated that the athlete abused the AAA, her coach and doctors. That the athlete left the country without a valid reason. They stated that she had been tested positive on numerous other occasions.

However, they also admit to "several technical lapses" on the part of the AAA dope testing carried out on Ms. Jayasinghe. They therefore, make a "fervent plea" to exonerate Ms. Jayasinghe from the alleged offence.

16 April 1999

- Ms. Jayasinghe signs an affidavit in Los Angeles, California where she is temporarily residing while undergoing training.

19 April 1999

- Written submissions on behalf of Ms. Jayasinghe are produced to the IAAF Arbitrators.

21 June 1999

- After Ms. Jayasinghe's lawyers filed written submissions the arbitration was postponed to hear new evidence. The second sitting of the arbitration panel has been adjourned till the 2nd of July until new elements can be presented to the IAAF council for consideration.

1 July 1999

The IAAF informs the Arbitration panel that in view of the new developments raised in the objections, the hearing will be postponed indefinitely.

2 July 1999

- The Arbitration panel then exonerated Ms. Jayasinghe of all charges for failing to establish the case against her beyond all reasonable doubt. Susanthika Jayasinghe may have gotten a bronze medal for her 200m run in Stadium Australia, but she deserves a gold medal for running the race against her perpetrators.

City Sports Roundup

Vajira wins title after 11 years

By Bruce Maurice

Vajira Premaratne, a Sri Lanka Federation Cup player, beat Sobhini De Silva, also a Federation Cup player, yesterday at the SLTA to win the Women's Singles Final.

Premaratne first won the title at the age of 16 and yesterday she did it again after a lapse of11 years. It was also an upset as Vajira was the 4th seed, while Sobhini was the second seed,

Results: Men's Singles Consolation Quarter Finals: Harshana Godamanne beat N. Sivendran 6/2, 6/2; Chaturanga Vidanaarachchi beat S. Sabanathan 7/6, 6/3; F. Emanual W/O R. Perera. Men's Consolation Semi Final: F. Emanual beat C. Vidanaarchchci 6/1, 6/3. Women's Final.: Vajira Premaratne beat Sobhini De Silva 6/2, 6/3. Men's Semi Final: S. Paramanathan beat Roshan Razik 7/5, 7/6,(5), 6/3; D. Ranaweera beat C.Wijesinghe 6/2, 4/6, 6/3, 6/2.

S.T.C. scrape home

S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia Under 13 'A' team had a fight on their hands before they managed to defeat St. Joseph's College, Wennappuwa by just 2 runs in an Under 13 Division 1 Horlicks Trophy match at Wennappuwa.

STC -130 for 7 wkts. (S. Pussela15, A.R Fernando 19, T.A.M.Peirs 26, W.A. Wijesinghe 12 not out; W. Fernando 2 for 10, P. Dominic 2 for 32).

SJC Wennappuwa -128 (M. Shamin 15, J. Peiris 24, S. Fernando 17, A. Dunuwille 15, M. Pinto 22; J. Thahir 2 for 19, E. Tennekoon 2 for 7, T.A. M. Peiris 2 for 17). (BM)

Swimmers to India

Sri Lanka's NAASU team will take part in the Karnataka Swimming Association Invitation Championships 2000 on October 9 and 10.

A seven-year-old student from St.Peter's College has been picked to represent the Lankan side. He is Shirantha Ariyawardena. He is coached by W.A.G. Wilson.

At the recently concluded Age Group Championships and The Sri Lanka Swimming Championships for 2000, young Shirantha was placed first in the Under 10 Back Stroke and second in the Free Style events. (BM)

Serasinghe 100

A fine century by Sachitra Serasinghe steered Nalanda to a win over Ananda in their Under 13 Division I cricket tournament match conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association.

Ananda - 156 in 50 overs (C. Herath 44, H. Gunathilak2 36; Amal Atapattu 3 for 17, Sachitra Serasinghe 2 for 41, Milinda Weerasinghe 2 for 17)

Nalanda - 186 for 8 in 50 overs (Sachitra Serasinghe 100, Milinda Weerasinghe 40; S. Wijesinghe 3 for 27, H. Gunatilleka 2 for 19) (BM)

Rahula denied win

The loss of over two and a half hour's play on the first day robbed Sri Rahula Katugastota of a certain victory over Taxila MMV Horana in the Division 2 match worked off at the Peradeniya Campus Grounds.

Left arm spinner Nuwan Pieris was the wrecker as the home team shot out the visitors for 88 and then had them struggling at 46 for 8 whilst following on. Pieris returned fine figures of 19-14-12-4 and 19-11-13-4.

Sri Rahula - 193 (S. Fernando 21, M. Gunawardena 52, D.P. Kumara 16, L. Samaradivakara 16, M. Damakage 44; L. Lakshan 3 for 35, S. Weerasinghe 2 for 11, M. Tharanga 2 for 33)

Taxila - 88 (D. Rajasuriya 18, P. Fernando 15, B. Gunasena 2 for 34, M. Damakage 2 for 17, N. Pieris 4 for 12, C. Ratnayake 2 for 8) and 46 for 8 (S. Senaratne 15; N. Pieris 4 for 13, C. Ratnayake 2 for 9)

Meanwhile rain badly affected the Under 19 match between Kingswood and Dharmapala at the latter's grounds.

Dharmapala - 169 (I. Indika 66, S. Manorathna 16; R. Mouzoon 5 for 47, U. Silva 2 for 39, H. Dissanaike 2 for 18). Kingswood- 106 for 4 (R. Liyanage 21, B. Ekanayake 41, C. Seneviratne 18 n.o, M. Wattegedera 11) - Aubrey Kuruppu

Halahackone plans sand track for Nuwara Eliya

Bernard Halahackone plans to develop the Nuwara Eliya Race Course with a sand track and also plans to have a starting gate which he thinks it is very important, since there are over 100 Thoroughbred horse being raced in Sri Lanka.

Bernard Halahackone had been involved in the Sri Lanka Turf Club for more than three decades.

He has served as a Steward and Committee Member of the Sri Lanka Turf Club since 1977. He had served as a Steward when late Mr. Upali Wijewardene was the Chairman of the Board of Stewards. He and his father had ridden in the Gentlemen Riders' Races in the 1950s. His father was a Owner/Trainer in the Ceylon Turf Club as well as a member of the club. He was a very successful Owner/Trainer. Two of his horses namely "Surety Two" and "Manzure Rus" finished 1st and 2nd in a photofinish in the Madras Cup (1 1/2 miles) which was a race allocated for Arab Horses in Class 1 held at the Colombo Race Course.

His Champion Horse "Surety Two" won the "Bandaranaike Cup" (5 Furlongs) which was a sprint event, and the longest race 1 1/2 miles in record time, namely the "Madras Cup". He won this race for three consecutive years. Bernard had been an associate and an advisor to late Mr. Upali Wijewardene in international racing. He had been involved in selecting of yearlings and horses and also in planning the entries of horses for the races.

Following members were elected as Office Bearers of the Sri Lanka Turf Club for the year 2000/2001 at the recently held Annual General Meeting. Mr. Dhammika Attygalle and Mr. Rajah Sinnathuray were elected as President and Hony. Secretary for the sixth consecutive year.

Dhammika Attygalle - (President); Rajah Sinnathuray J.P. - (Hony Secretary); Jayantha Senanayake - (Hony. Treasurer); Bernard Halahackone, Ajit Chitty, Sirimevan Senanayake, Mike Mohamed, Rohini De Mel, Shantha De Zoysa, Kenneth Jayasinge, Shelton De Alwis, Indumini Weerakone, Pemsit Seneviratne, Bandula Wijesuriya, Neil Jayawardene.

Board of Stewards: Bernard Halahackone - (Chairman); Ajit Chitty - (Deputy Chairman); Sirimevan Senanayake, Rohini De Mel, Jayantha Senanayake, Devinda S. Senanayake, Priyantha Kariyapperuma.

Trust Fund for Susanthika

The Duncan White Foundation will establish a 'Susanthika Athens 2000 Olympic Trust Fund' with a view for her to repeat a medal win at the Athens 2000 Olympic Games, states a press release from Vijitha Fernando, Trustee, Duncan White Sports Foundation.

The primary objective of this Trust Fund is to ensure that Susanthika will have unencumbered funds disbursed exclusively for her training in any country that specialises in sprint events and expenditures associated with such a training programme.

The Trust Fund will be oversighted by the Duncan White Sports Foundation, managed and administered by a professional committee of outstanding sports persons and respected corporate captains who are beyond reproach.

The Committee will be chaired by Jennifer Moragoda, in her ex-officio capacity as President of the Duncan White Sports Foundation.

Susanthika will have her representative serving on this committee, with two nominees from the Foundation and would expect representation from the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee.

The Committee would draw a representative from a reputed auditing firm to assure that proper accounts and disbursements are strictly and assiduously observed. An audit of the financial health of the Trust Fund would be made public as and when appropriate funds received by the Trust will be announced in the print media.

In Susanthika's dangerous and arduous quest for a medal win for Sri Lanka at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games had an enormous toll on her personal finances. Susanthika owes some Rupees Two Million in bank overdrafts, to friends and other facilities she had to draw on to get to the millennium Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, should be made available quickly. The Trust Fund's first priority is to rid her of this debt.

This Fund expects to provide a sustenance allowance for her aging parents and family while she trains abroad. Susanthika is the sole financial provider for her family.

"Susanthika-Athens 2000 Olympic Trust Fund's" proposed committee expects the support of the general public, corporate entities sponsoring sports to dig deep and give generously to this great endeavour of hers.

The Trust Fund expects government involvement, participation and representation. This is a collective effort and above partisan sportspersonship.

Send your contributions to: 'Susanthika-Olympics 2000 Trust Fund, care of the Duncan White Sports Foundation, Iceland Building, 49/16 Galle Road, Colombo 3. Telephone: 342420 or 761161.

Modalities and operational arrangements of the Trust Fund would be made public once an agreement is entered between Susanthika Jayasinghe and the Foundation.

Duncan White put Sri Lanka on the world map in 1948 by winning his silver medal at the London Olympic Games.

Susanthika Jayasinghe renewed that effort with a bronze medal after 52 years at the millennium Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Christ Church bag U17 hockey title

Christ Church College Matale won the all-island Schools under 17 boys hockey title for the second successive year when they beat S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia by 3-0 in the final of the boys hockey tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Hockey Federation and the Kandy District Schools Hockey Association and worked off at the Bogambara Grounds in Kandy.

S. Dissanayake scored two goals, and T.K. Wickramasinghe 1 goal for this winners.

In the quarter-finals Christ Church College Matale beat President's College Maharagama by 1-0 to qualify for the semis.

In the semi-finals Christ Church College beat St. Sylvester's College Kandy by 3-0. -L.D.C. Matale

Off the tee with Tita Nathanielsz

Captain on the rampage

Rusi Captain is the only scratch golfer in the country except of course the formidable trio Anura Rohana, Tissa Chandradasa and Lalith Kumara who despite their commendable performances at home and abroad are precluded from the championship.

The 121st Annual Golf Championship of Royal Colombo Golf Club was as uninviting and damp as the weather which prevailed over the Ridgeways through the weekend.

The only racy flavour that sparkled through the several games was the outstanding classy display of stroke play by Rusi Captain. He went on the rampage from his first shot in his first game and when he got warmed up Michael Perera got swept away in a crushing defeat 7 & 6 in the semi-final.

Alain Gyi, the 3 handicapper was expected to match Jehan De Saram but unfortunately he faltered too many times and wilting under the pressure of superb timing, excellent length and accurate putting he got beaten 4 & 3. De Saram was all smiles all evening with deserving prospects of playing in the finals.

Rusi Captain on Sunday was absolutely unmatch-able. He drove like a demon and calculated his approach shots with absolute accuracy and before young De Saram could put his thoughts together he was 6 down in confusion.

Captain was getting more and more impassive and it was not long before he put the final screw on De Saram to win 8 & 7 and place his name on the championship board as winner of the club title for the Year 2000. "Where have all our golfers gone - long time no see?," was what a wag was heard to moan.

Vijaya beaten

By L.D. Chandrasiri Matale

Christ Church College Matale recorded an outright win against Vijaya College Matale in their under 13 Division Three Inter-School cricket match played at the Bernard Aluvihare stadium in Matale, last Monday.

Batting first Christ Church Matale scored 169 in 42 overs and in reply Vijaya College were all out for 52.Batting a second time Vijaya College were bundled out for 57.

Kosala bowled best for the winners Christ Church College - Matale - 169 all out in 42 overs (Vikumnath 38, Napaiz 22; N.S. Hulangamuwa 4/53)

Vijaya College 52 all out (22 overs) 1st. innings (Kosala 4/22)

Vijaya College - 57 all out in 23 overs 2nd innings (Kosala 5/18 Vikumnath 2/15) -

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