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| Wednesday, 9 July 2003 |
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Lahiru ready to impress in Canada by Dinesh Weerawansa Sri Lankan teenager Lahiru Attygalle arrived in Sherbrooke, Canada to take part at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships which starts today. The 18-year-old Royal schoolboy sprinter will take part in men's 100m and 200m events. Royalist Attygalle had a long work out at Sherbrooke's training venue yesterday under the watchful eyes of Sri Lanka Manager-cum-coach Shemal Fernando, who too had been a top Public schools athlete during his day at the same school - Royal. Reports from Canada said Attygalle has been in good shape and is looking forward to improve on his timings. The event starts today with women's 3,000m final. Attygalle, who qualified to compete in Canada after some impressive timings at last month's Sri Lanka Junior National Championships in Badulla, looked a confident lad as he is preparing for his first event on Friday. Attygalle will be seen in action for the first time at the World Youth Championships when he competes in men's 100m first round heats, scheduled for 9.50 a.m. local time on Friday (9.50 p.m. SL time). If he qualifies, he could run in the semi-finals at 3 p.m. and finals at 5.45 p.m. on Saturday (3 a.m. and 5.45 a.m. respectively on Sunday SL time). The other event in which Attygalle compete will be men's 200m. The qualifying round heats will be on Saturday at 10.05 a.m. (10.05 p.m. SL time). The semi-finals and finals of this event are scheduled for Sunday at 10.45 a.m. and 3.05 p.m. respectively - 10.45 p.m. on Sunday and 3.05 a.m. on Monday SL time. The competition level in the two men's sprints should turn out to be very high, comparing the entry timings of the competitors, but Lankan Attygalle is determined to make his presence felt and go for his personal best. Sri Lankan teenager Attygalle was among the hundreds of emerging youth star athletes from all over the world who took part in yesterday's launching of the 'This is Athletics' international clinic in Sherbrooke. Reports from Canada added that the young participants welcomed US stars Michael Johnson and Edwin Moses to the University of Sherbrooke campus. Johnson and Moses are just two of the star athletes who will participate in "This is Athletics" three-day coaching programme which provides the lead-up to the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships. "This is Athletics" is unique in its genre and represents the biggest international event of its kind ever staged by any sports governing body. The programme is open to all athletes participating in the World Youth Championships and combines practical coaching and the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the biggest names in the recent history of athletics with a cultural itinerary that will enable these youngsters from around the world to get to know each other and learn something of the history and attractions of this beautiful region of Canada. The third IAAF World Youth Championships will be worked off from July 9 to 13 July, and even though relatively young, these Championships have already proved to be a great spring board for young athletes. Among the star attraction at the meet will be Allyson Felix, winner of the 100m World Youth title two years ago in Debrecen, Hungary, who is making headlines all over the world this year after a string of fine performances. Her ascendancy to the senior top ranks may have come earlier than expected but it is certainly no surprise to see a number of those athletes who won the inaugural World Youth Championships in 1999 amongst the leading stars of today. Mark Lewis-Francis of Britain and Jana Pittman of Australia, who both made their very first mark in the 1st IAAF World Youth Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 1999, went on to become world junior champions. They both are now established world class senior competitors, the former winning the European Cup 100m in Florence this summer, and the latter the Commonwealth Games 400m Hurdles title in 2002. Famously known Jana Pittman won the 400m Hurdles in 57.87 and finished 7th in the 400m in Poland before clinching world junior titles at both distances in Santiago 2000. Mark Lewis-Francis won the 100m final in 10.40 in Bydgoszcz and went on to be crowned World Junior champion in Santiago the following year. Hence, the World Youth championship would provide visas for the young athletes to enter the big league. |
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