Meet Sri Lankan Gold Medallists: Rohan Pradeep to run at Athens Olympic Stadium

Dinesh Weerawansa

GAMES: The men's 400m event has been one of the most important events for Sri Lanka male athletes. If the 200m event is the most fancied event for Sri Lanka in women's events, then the most favourite for Sri Lanka in men's event is 400m.

More interestingly, the men's 400m event has a proud history from Sri Lanka's point of view. It has been Lanka's pet event for more than three decades. Sri Lanka's most significant first triumph in this event was some 32 years ago. That was when W. Wimaladasa bagged gold medal at the 1974 Asian Games in Teheran.

At the same meet, Wimaladasa was joined by Sunil Gunawardena, A. Premachandra and Kosala Sahabandu to give Sri Lanka the men's 4 x 400m relay gold as well.

The men's 400m Asian crown then came to Sugath Tillakaratne who bagged the gold at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. In the following year, Tillakaratne won the gold medal of this event at the 1999 Asian Championship in Fukuoka.

A few months later a new king was born to challenge the supremacy of Tillakaratne. He was none other than Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando who signalled his return to international track with double gold medals at the 8th South Asian Games in Katmandu.

He clocked 45.77 seconds to bag the men's 400m gold and then went on to anchor Sri Lanka's men's 4 x 400m relay team to victory in Nepal.

He repeated his feat with another golden double at the 9th SA Games in Islamabad in 2004. His men's 400m timing here was 45.89 seconds. Not only did he retain the same crowns at his third successive South Asian Games but took men's 200m title as well to become a triple gold medallist.

At the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo last month, Rohan Pradeep annexed men's 200m, 400m and 4 x 400m relay titles to become the most successful male sprinter. He first clocked 21.14 seconds to win men's 200m gold medal for Sri Lanka. He then returned a timing of 46.33 seconds to win men's 400m title for the third successive time at the eight-nation Games.

On the final day of the 10th SAG, Rohan Pradeep anchored the host nation's men's 4 x 400m relay team to a convincing victory.

Ever since his return to international arena, Rohan Pradeep has been a driving force in Asian sprints. The speed merchant who hails from Dalupotha, Negombo blossomed to be one of the finest athletes that Sri Lanka has ever produced with a series of victories at Asian Grand Prix and Asian Championship meets. For so many years during his peak international seasons, the pencil-slim track specialist has been rated amongst the top 50 at the IAAF World rankings for men's 400m.

"I am glad that I could live up to expectations before my home crowd. That has been my dream after the 2002 Asian championship," said Rohan Pradeep.

He has not taken a break ever since his triple gold medal winning feat at the South Asian Games. "I continue my training. Right now my target is the Asian Games in Doha. There are three more months to go and I have to make a real effort because it is going to be my last Asian Games. I want to win a medal there," he said.

Prior to the Asian Games, Rohan Pradeep will represent Asia at the IAAF World Cup meeting to be worked off in Greece. He will represent the Asian continent in men's 400m at the World Cup meet to be worked off at the Athens Olympic Stadium.

"This is a good opportunity to compete against some of the best sprinters in the world. There will be tough competition and that exposure is going to help me in my preparations for the Doha Asian Games in December," he said.

Rohan Pradeep will also be representing the Asian relay team for men's 4 x 400m, which also include compatriot Prasanna Amarasekera. "Apart from Prasanna, there are two sprinters from Japan and Saudi Arabia that would form the Asian 400m relay team. I am looking forward to it," he said.

Asked about his future plans beyond the Asian Games, Rohan Pradeep said it all depends on his achievements in Doha. "I have to see how it goes and then decide what I am going to do. If I feel that I am in good shape by then, I could compete in some key meets lined up for next year. But right now, my mind is focused on the Asian Games," a determined Rohan Pradeep said.

Incidentally, both Rohan Pradeep and Prasanna Amarasekera are trained by former Asian Games gold medallist Sunil Gunawardena, one of the top local coaches who have produced many top local athletes including three-time Asian Games gold medallist Damayanthi Darsha.