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| Tuesday, 3 June 2003 |
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Lankan athletes strike it rich by Dinesh Weerawansa The 2003 Asian Grand Prix Series, which has so far completed two of the four scheduled four-leg meets, has already given Sri Lanka athletes their highest ever earnings. By the half way mark on completion of two of the four Grand Prix meetings, Sri Lanka athletes have earned their richest purse ever. The Lankan athletes have so far earned a total of USD 40,750 (nearly Rs. 4 million) from the two meets completed in Hyderabad and Colombo and now stands a chance of extending it even more. With two more meets to go in the regional Grand Prix series, Sri Lankans have a chance of bagging total prize money of well over USD 60,000 (around Rs. 6 million). It will be a big bonanza for country's talented but poor and less affluent athletes. Compared to the earnings of their counterparts in the IAAF Grand Prix circuit and even our own national cricketers, the figure could look marginal and average, but it is certainly big money and a lifetime earning for our athletes. They should be grateful for the Sri Lanka Athletic Association President Sunil Jayaweera and his able Secretary Prema Pinnawala for getting down the meet to Colombo. As the chairman of the Organising Committee, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Johnston Fernando too played a dynamic role to ensure the successful staging of Sri Lanka's first ever Grand Prix meet. USD 3,000, 1250 and 500 offered to the first three places of each event in each of the four Grand Prix meets in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines may not look that impressive compared to European or IAAF Grand Prix standards in the track & field world. Nevertheless, it is comparatively a big earning for local athletes, who gets limited opportunities in the big league. Sri Lankans earned USD 11,000 from the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Series in Hyderabad, India last Wednesday and a further USD 29,750 from last night's second leg meeting in the Lankan capital, which hosted its first-ever Grand Prix meet. The USD 40,750 earned by the Lankan athletes so far is easily the richest prize money they ever have had, almost three times more than their Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe got for winning the silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Athens, 1997. Jayasinghe, along with Asian Games triple gold medallist Damayanthi Darsha and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sriyani Kulawansa have taken places in a few IAAF ratified European and Asian Grand Prix meets during the last few years but they have earned marginally. Jayasinghe and Rohan Pradeep Fernando have earned USD 6,000 each from the current series and stands a good chance of making it doubled by next week. Fernando, a proud product of Sri Lanka Navy, has shown tremendous form and is bound to give even a better account of himself in 400m. The Asian Grand Prix series, which was launched last year with three host countries, has now been expanded to four cities - Hyderabad, Colombo, Bangkok and Manila. The Asian AA Secretary General, Maurice Nicholas said the Asian Grand Prix, which was launched last year, has been a big success. He said that they would further increase prize money as the Asian Grand Prix gain popularity and attract big time sponsors. He said the Asian Grand Prix Series have given opportunities for the top athletes in the Asian region to step in to Grand Prix series. He added the Asian Grand Prix series will be an annual event and that they would give every possible opportunity for the athletes in the region to compete at meets of this nature. He said the Asian Grand Prix would be the stepping stone for the elite Asian athletes to make their way to the big time athletics. The live wire behind the athletic revolution in Asia, Nicholas said the absence of regional sporting giants China from the Asian Grand Prix series this year due to SARS, has given opportunities to many others to compete in the series. He was impressed with the arrangements made by Colombo to host the meet and assured that Sri Lanka would be a regular destination in the Asian athletic map. ****** Nishantha & Amerasekera to Bangkok and Manila Two more athletes - A.B. P. Nishantha and Prasanna Amarasekera, who excelled in the Colombo leg of the 2003 Asian Grand Prix Series, have earned places to compete in the last two meets of the series in Bangkok and Manila. Nishantha (second in men's javelin throw - 79.06m), J.M.S. Jayaweera (first in men's 3,000m - 8 mts, 18.38 sec.), Manoj Pushpakumara (third in men's 880m - 1 mt, 48.31 sec) established new Sri Lanka records at the Colombo Grand Prix, in which Sri Lanka won five events and won 13 other second and third places. Sprinter Amarasekera earned a place in the next two rounds after finishing third in men's 400m, behind his team mates Rohan Pradeep Kumar Fernando and Sugath Tillakaratne. Ten Sri Lankans, including Sunday's champions Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Darsha and Fernando, were in the 180-member elite team of Asian athletes which left Colombo yesterday. They were scheduled to reach Thailand to compete in the third leg of the Asian Grand Prix Series on Thursday. From Bangkok, they will take wing to the Philippines for the fourth and final meet of the series in Manila on June 9. (D.W.) |
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