Ready to concentrate on 200m - Susanthika

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Japan

ATHLETICS: Olympic medallist, Susanthika Jayasinghe is ready to forget last night's women's 100m mishap and come good in her 200m first round heats of the 11th IAAF World Championships here.

The 31-year-old veteran woman sprinter was disqualified for a false start in her women's 100m quarter final heat two but Jayasinghe says all what happened on Sunday is now history.

"True it was disgusting but all what I want to do right now is to forget that unfortunate moment and concentrate on my 200m," she said after her training session at a nearby training venue here today. Jayasinghe said there is no point in recalling it again and get affected psychologically.

"Everything is not lost. I have a greater goal, greater task and greater target. I want to set my mind on that. It's hard but I will try my level best," she added.

It was exactly ten years ago that Jayasinghe won Sri Lanka's first ever IAAF World Championship medal. A decade later, her women's 200m silver in Athens 1997 still remains the only medal won by a Lankan in the history of World Championship. The first round heats of women's 100m event are scheduled to be worked off at 10.40 am (7.10 am SL time) on Wednesday (29). The quarters will take place at 7.40 pm (4.10 pm SL time) in the same evening.

AASL Vice President Sunil Jayaweera's decision to voluntarily step down from his post of Team Leader has enabled Jayasinghe's husband cum coach Dhammika Nandakumara to share the same room at Rega Royal Hotel with the woman sprinter.

According to the Local Organising Committee regulations, only one official could be allocated to countries which field a solitary competitor. Since Sri Lanka is fielding just one athlete here, only Nandakumara could get official accommodation besides Jayasinghe. Nandakumara, who originally came here as coach has now been promoted to be the Team Leader.

Despite the presence of just one competitor, Sri Lanka has an extraordinary number of nine officials in the team. But an official of the AASL said except for Nandakumara, the remaining eight officials have come here utilising their private funds under different capacities. Jayasinghe said she still trains on the original schedules given to her by her American coach Tony Campbell - the man who guided her to win women's 200m bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Though Jayasinghe missed Campbell's on-the-spot advise during her recent stint in the USA, Campbell is here for the World Championship and is in touch with the Lankan lass.

Jayasinghe said hot conditions in Osaka are not going to affect her, though it could not be the same in case with European and American sprinters.

Osaka, Monday