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Sports

Swansong for Susie?
By Pelham Juriansz
"Susanthika Jayasinghe must be disappointed with her efforts in the 200m as she did not live up to expectations and come out with flying colours as was expected of her. The timing she achieved in the recent Asian Grand Prix left much to be desired," said the Secretary of the Amateur Athletic Association Prema Pinnawela in an epilogue of the Asian Grand Prix that concluded in Manila on July 1st.

The timings were certainly not good enough. In the Colombo leg of the Grand Prix there was a lot expected of her but she did not deliver the goods. There is a lot that should be done for athletics. Complacency has set in and the performances are not up to the mark. It is not good enough to sport the fact that you won the bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics four years ago. Enough is enough. It is time that younger athletes come to the fore in the light of what has happened and be encouraged. It is a big let down for the crowds that came to watch Susanthika in Colombo.

They cheered her on but though she won in a photo finish it was not good enough. Is she reserving her best for the last? The crowds that came to witness her and her sprint to glory did not see it. In fact the final result was in doubt. Many expected her to cruise home with an easy win but it was left to the Alge timing at the Stadium to come up with a decision in her favour. However I know that that she is a fighter and I have the gut feeling that she will qualify for the Olympics if not it will be swan song for her.

According to Pinnawela she took it "too easy" and seem to relax at the final stages. Sometimes complacency seems to set in and then an athlete of Susanthika's reputation could easily come apart. Instead of blaming the media and all and sundry she should learn to improve on her timing. Maybe she took it too easy thinking that this is not such an important event and is reserving her energy for the big one at the Olympics.

The Bronze medal that she won at the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000 should spur her on to better things. It is not good that anyone, especially a sportsperson relax and rest on his or her laurels.

According to Pinnawela "Susanthika has not put her best foot forward, but she is very determined and that according to him is her plus point. We should not give up hope and lose faith in her. As to her timing not being up to the mark Pinnawela said that she should not be discouraged at her performance and there was a added problem where the wind was against her and also there was considerable rain. But then what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

There was the same rain and wind factor against the other runners as well. One must overcome these obstacles. Training in such conditions is one way to help and also training in conditions where there is sufficient rain and the wind factor is similarly against her will stand her in goodstead for the future.

Her timing in the Philippines was 23.34 secs, which is below her potential and she has to pull up her socks and perform or else all is lost. Now is the time to do it. She has to bring down her timing and improve it to 23.17secs by the 11th of August, which is just a little over a month away. To qualify for the Olympics she has time to do it, but she is capable and will do it because there are some meets coming up in India before that. "If the Athletic Authorities do not place their faith in her and help her at this stage she will be a lost cause, and will be lost to Athletics." complained a concerned Pinnawela.

Resting on his laurels is not what one should attribute to Rohan Pradeep Kumara who even though he won his event mentioned the fact when interviewed that he was not satisfied with his performance as there was no one to press him on to achieve a better timing. Even Damayanthi Dharsha was not up to the mark as her counterpart from India won the event. It showed that it is not very necessary to be in front at the beginning of the race and it is the final stretch, the home run that counts.

The runner from India, that finally won the race outdid the other two, including Dharsha on the home run. Our athletes should learn that like in cricket that the game is not over till the last ball is bowled and the last shot is played and umpire calls stumps. Matches have been won or lost in the last ball.

One thinks of the last ball six that Javed Miandad stroked in the one -day match to bring Pakistan victory in the 1980's. So the idea is like what Winston Churchill told his old school boys "Never give up, Never give up, Never ever, ever give up." Well that should be the idea when running. No race is won till the tape is met. A bad workman it is said blames his tools. Similarly the athlete should learn that it is up to the athlete to improve and the media should not be blamed for an athlete’s failure or let us say, lack of success.

Manjula Kumar who performed adequately at the 2nd leg of the Asian Grand Prix by winning the high jump event with a distance of 2.25 metres should improve his effort to 2.27 if he wants to qualify for the Olympics.

The fact is that he brought gold to Sri Lanka. But high jumpers do not attract as much attention as runners do, obviously because of the glamour of the event. What more joy could one bring to the spectators and what greater glory than to see an athlete in full swing going with the wind and running like the wind.

But Manjula is a prospect for the future and the athletic authorities should invest in him. The 11th of August is the deadline for qualifying for the Olympics to be held in the Greek capital in August and after that Manjula should concentrate on the South Asian Games next year in Sri Lanka and then on the Asian Games in Qatar in 2006. So it is a double concentration.

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