36th National Sports Festival:

Vidanage – cynosure of all eyes

Chris Dhambarage

Commonwealth Games silver medalist Chinthana Geethal Vidanage was the cynosure of all eyes as he made a lasting impression at the 36th National Sports Festival worked off in Kandy last week.

The 29 year old weight lifter from Polonnaruwa representing North Central Province established a new Sri Lanka record lifting an overall total of 306 points including 130 in the snatch category and 176 in the clean and jerk category while competing in the 77 kg weight class which shattered his own record.

The reward for his achievements was a luxury car in the Fiat automobile series through the courtesy of FIAT Sri Lanka who has partnered with the Ministry of Sports for the first time.

Successful campaign

Incidentally this was the first time that an award of this nature was on offer at a National Sports Festival. Even then Vidanage’s performance was more significant considering the fact that he had just returned following a successful campaign at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

His recent performances both at home and overseas have been quite splendid and has lived upto the expectations as Sri Lanka’s number one in this sport. He narrowly missed out a gold medal in India which would have been a historic moment having clinched a gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

This is one good example for his total commitment for the sport and his dedication towards achieving excellence in any level of competition. He could have easily skipped the National Sports Festival with several other international assignments lined up in the future.

However Vidanage has always enjoyed performing at home and he really produced a class act which enabled him to improve on his own performances. The manner in which he has progressed is also quite unique having started his career as a humble schoolboy in Polonnaruwa.

He has turned out to be a model role to many sportsman and sportswomen in the country having overcome all obstacles and challenges which came across during the early days of his career.

In fact the beginning was really tough for him but as time passed he has learnt a lot and gained valuable experience while competing in some of the biggest events in the international sporting scene.

Vidanage’s next target is the upcoming Asian Games in China in which he is expected to make an impact once again and bring more honour and fame to his country.

Promising athlete

Another promising athlete who is always striving for success is high jumper Manjula Kumara who was named as the Best Athlete in the track and field events for his record breaking performance in the men’s high jump event.

The Asian Championships gold medalist representing Southern Province shattered the current sports festival high jump record with an effort of 2.18 metres. This was quite a satisfying performance for an athlete who had failed to make an impact at the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

That was probably in the back of his mind although he went into the Games confidently with a lot of preparations and training in the United States of America. But the end result was rather disappointing and Manjula Kumara was soon looking for an improved performance to boost his morale.

The Bogambara Stadium in Kandy was the ideal location as he exhibited his talent and potential to reemerge from his shadows and prove himself as an ideal bet for a medal at the upcoming Asian Games in China.

The high jump maestro of course started his career in the remote town of Morawaka where he had his early education at the Kosnilgoda Junior School. He then moved towards Vijith Central College under the instructions of his Principal and coach Jayakody. But it was under the guidance of Coach Keerthi Kumara that he really improved and turned out to be a versatile athlete that later helped him to reach international standards.

Manjula Kumara broke the Sri Lankan record in 2004 jumping a height of 2.27 and his moment of glory soon followed when he brought his country a Gold medal in the Asian Championships in 2005. He cleared the bar with a height of 2.27 metres which was a magnificent feat from a Sri Lankan athlete that showed his prowess to the World.

He then received a tremendous lift in his career when his long time benefactor and former national Olympic high jumper Nagalingam Ethiriveerashingham obtained him a scholarship at the University of Southern California USA where he came under the supervision of Coach Michael Pullns.

But tragedy struck for Manjula Kumara in 2006 as he sustained a nasty ankle injury and was forced to stay out of active competition for nearly two years. Even then he made the most of the opportunities during this period and obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics before commencing his training once again.

Tremendous sacrifice

Monetary difficulties continued to be a factor and with tremendous sacrifice, saving on allowances to maintain his parents back home, he continued to thrive in the USA.

Heavy criticism was piled upon him for some poor performances, yet the versatile victor overcame all odds to bring Sri Lanka another Gold medal in the Asian Championships held in China in 2009 and remained a top seed for high jump in Asia.

The high jump champion, now lives in Colombo in a house donated by the People Bank, and is furiously training under Coach Hugo Mousz and his ever faithful coach Keerthi Kumara. He is firm to keep the Sri Lanka flag flying in the up and coming Asian Games.

Meanwhile Chandrika Subashini Rasnayake of North Western Province was named best athlete in the women’s category for her splendid performances in the track events.

She made a clean sweep by winning four gold medals in her pet events the women’s 200 metres, 400 metres, 4X100 metres relay and 4X400 metres relay events respectively.

In addition N M C Dilrukshi from the North Western Province shattered the women’s 1500 metres record while 4.29.5 seconds and Manjula Wijeratne of Sabaragamuwa Province set up a new Sports Festival record by lifting 138 kg in the over 105 kg snatch category in the weight lifting championships.