Sprinting Susie:

Island roots, Olympian hopes

A gleaming gold at the Asian Games, a beautiful bronze at the World Championships - what can stop our island sprint sensation Susie from attaining glory in Beijing next year?

I look across the 7,000 miles to a small island, Jamaica, with fewer folk than us yet a panache for producing sprinters such as Campbell and Powell, Ottey and Quarrie over many long years.

Isn’t it time we feted and supported Susie to visit Jamaica to study her Olympian rivals, to promote links between our similar but distant islands and to discover new sprint secrets with wonderful Jamaican folk in their rich red soil?

Leonidas Wijekulesuriya

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Congrats Susanthika

Dear Susanthika, Congratulations!!! An impressive field to beat and come in for a bronze. You make me proud and happy by your achievement. Sri Lanka is proud to have a daughter like you.

Noel Goonesekera

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Great source of inspiration

Susanthika you are a great source of inspiration for millions of Sri Lankans in the country and overseas both young and old. Congratulations and best wishes.

You showed how Sri Lankans can get to the forefront of the world with real passion, determination and hard work. Hope this will be an eye opener for many of our politicians who cannot get their basics right at their level which is so critical at this moment of time.

It was also very shameful how such a brilliant athlete was treated previously by the politicians and the press no matter what her off field behaviors’ was.

Thank you Susanthika - we owe you an apology.

Sam De Silva

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Susanthika’s victory

It is a great victory for Sri Lanka. To race against the best in the world and win a medal against all odds is amazing.

It is truly an achievement for a simple village lass with true courage and determination.

I recall with disgust how Mangala Samaraweera a top close minister to President Chandrika Kumaratunge abused this international star in Parliament to defend his colleague.

Then the colleagues fell apart and now they are together again. I wonder if any of them will have the decency to apologise to Susanthika and seek forgiveness for their disgusting gutter level abuse in Parliament.

President Kumaratunge did not even reprimand these arrogant ministers when they did this to a woman.

R. F Gunasekera