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| Tuesday, 10 August 2004 |
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Meet the Sri Lanka Olympians - Athens 2004 Manjula Kumara Wijesekera by Dinesh Weerawansa Sri Lanka's undisputed champion in men's high jump Manjula Kumara Wijesekera is an athlete with great potential. On present form, Wijesekera is the best investment for the future and looks a future medal prospect in the big league. It was Wijesekera who extended Sri Lanka's dominance in regional sprint events to the field events as well. He came into the limelight with Sri Lanka record breaking 2.18m feat at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Kingston, 2002. In the finals of the same meet, he cleared 2.15m and secured the junior world ranking of nine, the highest ever junior rating achieved by a Sri Lankan athlete. Has won his pet event at the Sri Lanka national championships on three occasions since 2001, while he missed once in 2003 when he was training in the United States. Thanks to the untiring efforts made by the former Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Olympic high jumper Nagalingam Edirveerasingam, Kumara was able to undergo a coaching stint in the United States in 1993. That changed his entire shaping and enabled him to show signs of a champion high jumper. Having finished fourth at the 2002 Asian Championships, Wijesekera left for the US to be trained under Edirveerasingam, who took care of the young lad. On his return to Sri Lanka, he had a highly successful 2004 season winning gold medal at the South Asian Games in Islamabad, Thai Open International meet and Asian Grand Prix in Colombo and Sri Lanka national championships. It was at last month's Sri Lanka nationals at Suhathadasa Stadium that Wijesekera cleared the Olympic 'B' category qualification mark of 2.27m, a feat which gave him an eleventh hour entry to the Athens Olympics. He had his early education at Kosmeegoda Junior School, where his athletic coach was Mrs. Jayakody. A promotion to Dikwella Central enabled young Wijesekera to get to know Keerthi Kumara, his present coach. More feats of Wijesekera could be heard in the years to come as he is due to enter an American University later this year. The rural lad, who recently joined the Sri Lanka Army, has gained admission to the University of Southern California. It became a full scholarship after he qualified to jump at Olympics. He has made a steady progress since his Junior School feats in 1998. He started from 1.78m at under-15 level and U-17 he extended it to 1.84 and then to top the two-metre barrier at 2.03m in 2000. By 2001, he was able to clear 2.10m and 2.18m by 2002. He bettered his own Sri Lanka mark at back to back international meets with 2.20m at South Asian Games, 2.25m at Asian Grand Prix and 2.27 at Sri Lanka Nationals from April to July, 2004. Fact file: Name: Manjula Kumara Pathiranage Wijesekera Born: 30th January 1984 School Attended: Kosmeegoda KV & Vijitha MV, Dikwella. Club: Sri Lanka Army Sports Club Civil status: Single Coach: K.H. Keerthi Kumara/Nagalingam Edirveerasingam Sport / Event: Athletics - men's high jump Career best record: 2.273m at Sri Lanka Nationals in Colombo, 2004. Sri Lanka debut: Asian Championships in Colombo, 2004. Career milestones: Olympic Games - Makes debut in Athens, 2004. IAAF Junior World Championships: Was placed ninth in the finals with 2.15m and a Sri Lanka record of 2.18m in the qualifying round in Kingston, 2002. World Youth Championships: Participated in Hungary 2001. Asian Grand Prix: Won the first place in Colombo, 2004. South Asian Games - Won gold medal with a new Games record of 2.20m in Islamabad, Pakistan, 2004. |
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