Offers pour into help one-time Lankan track star who drives cab in UAE

Offers of help have poured in for neglected track star Lalith Prasanna Galappaththi who is now driving a cab in the UAE, the Khaleej Times reported.

Unable to feed his family with his Rs 20,000 salary as a middle distance coach with the Sri Lankan Sports Ministry, Lalith came to Dubai in 2012 to work as a bellboy at a hotel apartment. He later took up the job of a taxi driver, putting in 15 hours a day.

The following account of the former track star was featured in the Khaleej Times

Lalith had just finished his A Levels from Anuruddha College, when the desire to shape up kicked in. One fine morning in 1991, dressed in a Sri Lankan jersey gifted by athlete Ajith Dharmasena, he set out on a jogging routine. An acquaintance quizzed him about the ethics of wearing the national colours. "The day will come when I will wear the colours for the nation." He fought back the tears of embarrassment with the pledge, and never looked back. Training under coach Norbert Perera and later under Janze Dissanayake, Lalith tasted his first win when he took home gold in a 20-km cross country run in his village.

 A couple of district-level honours later, Lalith won his first national-level title  - he placed third in the 3,000 metre steeplechase. That's when Dissanayake realised his middle distance potential and made him concentrate on the 1,500- and 800-metre races. The turning point came in 1995 when he set a 1,500 metre national record with 3 minutes and 46.2 seconds in the South Asian Federation Games selection meet.

The son of a grocer, and training under veteran national coach Dervin Perera, Lalith made his international debut by winning gold in the 1995 and 1996 Malaysian Open Championship. The same year, he won another gold in the Indonesian Open Championships and a bronze in the South Asian Federation Games in Madras. What followed was a relentless rain of titles and medals in 14 international meets till he pulled out injured from the Sri Lankan Olympic squad in 2002. Lalith said he is thankful to his sponsor Deshamanya Lalith Kotelawala, founder of Ceylinco Insurance, who was magnanimous enough to give him cash rewards every time he brought in a medal.

Despite the fame, life for Lalith has been a race to nowhere. During the competition period he was offered a job with the Sri Lankan Air Force where he was employed from 1993 to 1998 without taking part in any action. The year 1999 witnessed two milestones - a  job as middle distance coach with the Ministry of Sports and wedding to his childhood heartthrob. Life only got harder with a pay of Rs.20,000.

Coming on a visit visa in 2012, the former athlete found a bellboy's job with a hotel apartment in Bur Dubai where he worked till 2014. "My life is a sum of simple math and a little logic. There is no space for big dreams in it. In Colombo, I was getting 20,000 rupees. With the UAE job, I send home around 100,000 rupees. Period."

He runs at least twice a week to keep himself fit. "I still have a burning desire to go back to the field in different roles. I have the knowledge which I had acquired as a middle distance coach in Sri Lanka. I wish I could land the job of a coach with one of the clubs or schools in the UAE. That's my ambition. This county is now a global educational and sports hub which, I am sure, could have some space for me as a coach. I can deliver," says Lalith.