Wednesday, May 28, 2003
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Athletics
By V.V. Subrahmanyam
The `sprint queen' from Colombo, strongly feels that Asians are talented but it is high time the attitude of the Asian coaches towards the trainees is changed. "It can never be treated as a business or a part-time job. A coach has to look at his trainee as a trainer, friend and father. The basic objective is to keep the athletes fully relaxed and mentally geared up for the big races,'' she explained. "There is a vast difference in the treatment of athletes by the Asian coaches compared to western experts. My coach doesn't even hesitate to carry my bags so that I can be more focussed on the track. He knows how to keep me in the right frame of mind by the right pep talk. The team meetings are more of a rigmarole in this region with little emphasis on what the trainee should do before the big event,'' Susanthika explained. The odyssey of the 28-year-old Susanthika began way back in 1984 in a village in Uduwaka, when she was just eight years old. Quite interestingly, her first visit to the Sri Lankan capital in 1991 changed her attitude and her career. For she believes she was drilled the importance of scientific training by Dammika, a sports officer. She made a quiet beginning in the 1992 Asian junior championship finishing sixth in both the 100m and long jump. The bronze in the 1993 SAF Games in Bangladesh and the silver in the 1994 Asian Games was just the break she was looking for. "Once I got these two medals, my confidence level was really high,'' she remarked. In the 1995 SAF Games in Chennai she won the 200m (22.95s) and 100m (11.34s), both new meet records. "I don't think 1996 was really good for me. But, in 1997 when I won the silver medal in 200m (22.33) beating my childhood idol Merelene Ottey, it was something unbelievable. I just wanted to run as fast as I could and was really determined to win the race for I was competing with one of the greatest athletes,'' she recalled. Significantly, Susanthika doesn't want to discuss much about 1998 which she considers as her worst year for reasons which she doesn't want to disclose. Mind you, there were no injury problems but she just refuses to debate. Once she went to United States in 1999 for training, things started looking up again. For, after a quiet year, the Sydney Olympic Games pushed her to the threshold of stardom by her stunning bronze medal performance when she missed the silver by a whisker. In the 2002 Asian Games she was on the medals podium with a gold in the 100m but pulled a hamstring in the 200m event. "It was really painful. After that, I started training only this March and this Grand Prix is my first competitive race,'' she replied to a query. Having missed the World indoor meet recently, Susanthika is determined to mark her route to the Athens Olympics with some truly memorable performances. "Yes, the whole objective is to win the gold in next year's Olympics. I know it is not that easy but it is certainly not impossible,'' she said confidently. "The four-leg Grand Prix series should provide me the right assessment of what should be done to improve before the World Championship,'' she pointed out. After the Grand Prix she will also be taking part in the European circuit. Susanthika, who is sponsored by Nike, was given a cash incentive of Rs. 5 million (Lankan currency) after her Sydney Games bronze and a Mitsubushi jeep. She is happy with the way the Government and the National Athletic Federation are helping her in particular and the athletes in general. "Things are much better than they were when I started off,'' she added. Susanthika, who is coached by her husband Damika Nanda Kumara and has Tony Campbell, an American, as consultant, insists that the young athletes should have the self-confidence to do well in any meet they compete. "Well, when a village girl like Susanthika can work her way to the elite group in World athletics why not me, should be the attitude, she remarked. "Our biggest contribution (Damayanthi Darsha being the other athlete) is that we have made the Lankan athletes believe that they can perform at the highest level,'' she feels.
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