11th May 1997

When they ran against all odds

By Shelani de Silva.

Winning gold medals at an international track and field meet is an achievement but when the medals are won by blind athletes, one can be doubly proud. And it was three young Sri Lankans who achieved this remarkable feat at the Multi Disability Athletic Championship in Sydney, Australia last month. Accompanied by four officials, they came home with 15 medals from 21 events.

The three young athletes with their coach
Although the meet was open to athletes with different types of disabilities, Sri Lanka was represented by three blind athletes Kapilasiri Senanayake, Krishantha Bandara and Saman Priyadarshana.

Krishantha and Saman were more than willing to share their experiences running in a stadium which will be used for the year 2000 Olympics. But these modern tracks were a far cry from those they had trained on.

Krishantha and Saman are partially blind while Kapilasiri is totally blind. Krishantha and Saman are from the Ratmalana Blind School. Kapilasiri who had been at the school a few years ago is now studying at Tholangamuwa Vidyalaya in Kegalle, his home town. All three boys had their initial exposure to sports at the Ratmalana Blind School.

Twenty two year old Saman won four silver medals from his four events. Since he is partially blind his shadowy vision is limited to one eye. But his determination overcomes his disability and Saman says he hopes to continue his sports and achieve the highest goals. His achievement in Sydney, is only the first step in his sporting career, he said.

" I got involved in athletics from a very young age taking part in all meets organised for the blind. It was my dream to take part in an international meet but I never thought I would get the chance so soon ," said a joyful Saman.

Saman comes from a poor family in Kalutara. His father is a farmer and he has an elder brother and two younger sisters. All three of them have no disabilities.

"I was looking forward to travelling by plane. I had always imagined how it would be. We met a lot of athletes who were friendly. Although I didn’t win any gold medal I was not disappointed because the experience is what really mattered," he added.

"None of us had spikes, so we had to run barefoot. It was okay when we ran at home, but in that stadium the tracks were different, our feet hurt and our speed was affected" he said.

Unlike Saman, sixteen year old Krishantha had been training for this meet having taken part in the previous year’s meet in Australia. Not surprisingly, he is aiming to get into the Para Olympic squad.

He took part in seven events, won two gold medals for Discus and 800 meters running. "I also got three silver medals and two bronzes. Even in the earlier meet I won medals," he said.

Krishantha also felt the local athletes lacked facilities. "The worst was not having spikes. It really affects your speed. Although I am sixteen I ran for the under nineteen category," he said.

He too comes from a poor family and has been at the Ratmalana school from an early age. Two of his elder brothers and his sister too have sight problems. "Their vision is not as bad as mine. They are able to see with glasses. I’m totally blind in one eye and all I can see from the other is a kind of shadow," he said.

Twenty year old Kapilasiri, won two golds , a silver and bronze from his seven events. We were unable to meet Kapilasiri as he was not well and could not make it to Colombo from Kegalle. At present he is studying for his Advanced Level.

Mr.S Wanniarachi, the coach also spoke about the lack of facilities the Lankan athletes have to face. "The international rules and methods are different and the training techniques are very advanced when compared with ours . For example, a guide has to run with our runners but some athletes there are trained to run with the aid of a particular sound . There was one totally blind athlete who had no guide with him. But his coach who stood at the finishing line kept him going with continuous clapping. The athlete ran in the direction of the sound, never going out of the track, which was amazing," he said.

He also said there was a lack of volunteers to train the boys.

"It was surprising that no organisation came forward to assist these athletes on their trip. Fortunately accommodation was provided by the Sri Lankan Association in Sydney. They gave us everything." .

Fresh from their success, these boys are eager to take part in many more meets both locally and internationally but lack of facilities and other constraints have been a barrier to these aspiring sportsmen.

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