Campbell to train Susanthika
 

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Finland

HELSINKI, Wednesday - Sri Lankan Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe will be flying to Los Angeles, USA next month to undergo intensive training under Tony Campbell, her veteran American coach said here.

He said that the Sydney Games women's 200 metres bronze medallist is still a good bet for a medal at international level.

In an exclusive interview with the 'Daily News' in the Finnish capital here, Campbell said the 29-year-old celebrated Lankan athlete has agreed to arrive in Los Angeles from September. "She spoke to me and confirmed her plan to be in the United States once again. She will be joining with me for training from next month. Once she arrives there, I would draw up a plan for her for the meets ahead," said Campbell, the man who guided Jayasinghe to win Sri Lanka's first Olympic medal in 52 years.

Asked whether Jayasinghe still looks good to be an international medal prospect, Campbell looked very positive. "Of course she is! She is still good to win a medal at international level, if she makes the same effort and works hard, once she arrives in the United States. Her last stint in LA put her in perfect shape for the Sydney Olympics. Similarly, she could still make a comeback if she really works hard," a confident Campbell added.

Campbell, the man who has coached many elite world-class athletes including Sydney Olympic 100 metres gold medallist Maurice Greene, said that Jayasinghe has confirmed that she has overcome a leg injury, which kept her out of track for more than an year. The injury did not allow the Lankan lass to gain necessary qualifying standards to compete at the 10th IAAF World Championships here.

"Susan (as he calls Jayasinghe) told me that she has recovered. Then she can get into business. She could also run in some key meets in the US and Europe too," he concluded. Campbell is here in the Finnish capital with the Arabian athletic team he coaches and also trains several American athletes.

Jayasinghe's next hurdle, if she has been declared 100% fit would be next month's Asian Championships in South Korea. The indications are that she could leave for Los Angeles after the Asian Championship. Among the other meets lined up for Sri Lanka's elite athletes next year are the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo, Commonwealth Games in Australia and Asian Games in Doha.

Jayasinghe is the only Sri Lankan to win a medal in the 22-year-old IAAF World championship history. This feat she achieved eight years ago in Athens, 1997, winning the silver in women's 200m final. On her way to mark Sri Lanka in the world athletic map, Jayasinghe clocked an area record timing of 22.44 to win the qualifying heat four and then a 22.47 to win the second quarter-final.

She improved on her Asian area record to clock 22.33 to finish second behind Jamaican Merlene Ottey (22.26) in the second semi-final. Then the Lankan lass (22.39) pushed Ottey (22.40) to the third place in the final, behind Ukrainian gold medallist Zhanna Blocks (22.32) in the final worked off on August 8, 1997 in Athens, Greece.

She went on to bag the women's 200m bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, behind American Marion Jones and Jamaican Pauline Thompson. Her last medal for Sri Lanka was the 2002 Asian Games women's 100m gold in Busan, before an injury forced her to pull out of the 200m of the same event in South Korea.