'Susie' will remain in our hearts for long
The curtain has come down on the illustrious Athletic Career, of Sri
Lankas sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe, who found Lankan Athletics a
place in the Sun.
Her rise to the pinnacle of fame, is a story from rags to richers.
Born of poor parents, who toiled hard to keep the home fires burning, in
their humble abode among the hills and valleys in a far flung village at
Uduwaka in the Kegalle district. It was in this backdrop that the young
Susanthika spend her formative years, running with joy among the hills
and dales, in the country side, her desire for running surfaced at this
tender age. Returning home at dusk she would collect whatever firewood
she could lay her hands on, to ease the burden on her mother, to light
the hearth at home.
She had her early education at Uduwaka Junior school, and later at
the Athnawala Maha Vidyalaya, where her inborn talents for Athletics
surfaced with a burning desire to achieve greater heights, the unspoilt
lass left for the big city. That's history.
She soon made her presence felt, in the track and field events in the
100 and 200 m on Sri Lankan soil. I need not elaborate on all her
achievements in the local and international arena, they are far too many
to focus in this article, I would spotlight on few of her feats.
She took Asian athletics by storm when she was rated as the fastest
women in Asia. She broke into the lime light, in the international
scene, when she won a silver medal at the prestigious IAAF World
Championship in Athens in her pet event the 200 m dash.
In the land of the rising sun, her brilliance surfaced, when she won
golds in the 100 and 200 m track and field events, at the Grand Prix in
Osaka Japan.
Her crowning moment of glory was when she came under starters orders,
for one of the most colourful events the 200 m at the Sydney Olympics
lines up with her were the cream of the worlds. Women athletes, with the
flying American Marian Jones the pick of the lot. She got off to a
flying start, and with a blistering run to the tapes won the bronze
medal.
The irony was that only 01 of a second deprived her of the silver. It
was in the 110 m hurdles. That Duncan White won a silver at the London
Olympics, since then there has been a drought, till Susanthika appeared
on the scene, to win the bronze medal, to bring honour to her
motherland, in the world's greatest sporting event the olympics.
Fortune did smile on her, when on the 5th of October 2007 Marian
Jones admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs prior to the 2007
summer Olympics in Sydney, and she was striped of her medals, which
elevated Susanthika to silver medal status.
Her rise to fame was not a bed of roses, there were detractors who
made life miserable for her, yet it had no impact on her, she was one
made of stainer stuff. When she met President Mahinda Rajapaksa and
briefed him on her retirement from Athletics, he paid a glowing tribute
to her by presenting a sum of 5 million Rs. and a plaque for bringing
honour to her country.
Susie you will remain long in our hearts, and we wish you all success
in your future endeavours in life.
- Rex Wijewardene Dehiwala |
