Lanka’s shattered dreams at Asian Games

Dinesh Weerawansa Reporting from China

Sri Lanka’s huge 143-member contingent has been painting a gloomy picture at the 16th Asian Games without a single medal. The only possible chance left for Sri Lanka to win at least some type of a medal is in cricket with the final and the third-place play off due to be played on Friday.

Sri Lanka has been faring well at Asian Games in recent times, especially since that golden glory of Damayanthi Darsha and Sugath Tillakaratne at 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. When Susanthika Jayasinghe was forced to withdraw from her pet event at the Bangkok Games, it was Darsha who took the challenge and won back to back gold medals in women’s 200m and 400m. That was the occasion at which Sri Lanka won an Asian Games gold medal after 24 years.

Prior to that, it was S L B Rosa and W Wimaladasa led sprinters who brought glory for Sri Lanka at the 1974 Teheran Asian Games. Sunil Gunawardena, who was a member of that gold medal winning men’s 4 x 400m relay team, produced an athlete to break that 24-year-old hoodoo. Apart from Darsha’s golden sprint double, Sugath Tillakaratne won men’s 400m gold in Bangkok 1998.

At the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, Darsha was successful in defending her women’s 200m gold medal. That was Darsha’s third successive Asian Games medal since making her debut with a women’s 200m bronze when Jayasinghe won the silver at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games in Japan.

Covering my fifth successful Asian Games after Hiroshima 1994, Bangkok 1998, Busan 2002 and Doha 2006, I have never come across such a pathetic performance by a Sri Lanka contingent at the Asian Games. True that the old sprint brigade of Jayasinghe, Darsha and Tillakaratne is not there anymore. But can’t we win at least win a bronze after fielding a 143-member contingent?

But everything is not lost for Sri Lanka. With Sri Lanka bidding to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018, there is going to be tremendous opportunities for country’s budding sportsmen and women. One should be determined in defeat. The best example comes from China’s hurdler Xiang Liu, who was all in tears after being forced to miss men’s 110m hurdles event when Olympic Games came to his country in 2008. More importantly, he was the defending champion then, having won the gold medal of his pet event at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He shattered dreams of billions of Chinese two years ago.

But last night at the Aoti Main Stadium, he was a hero once more. Instead of tears that was visible in Beijing two years ago, Liu was in all smiles waving the Chinese flag proudly after winning the gold medal in men’s 110m hurdles at the 16th Asian Games. He once again proved that he has not lost his old touch and that he is a fighter.

We have many examples from Sri Lanka too, the best being Susanthika Jayasinghe, who had to undergo many challenges in her career. She was a hero in 1997 when she won Sri Lanka’s first ever IAAF World Championship gold medal in Athens. But she went from hero to zero when she was forced to withdraw from Asian Games in the following year. Her critics came out with various stories. But two years later, Jayasinghe shocked everybody by winning Sri Lanka’s first Olympic medal in 52 years at the Sydney 2000 Games. In 2002 Busan, Jayasinghe won her first gold at Asian Games.

If all those Sri Lankan sportsmen and women who competed here in this Southern Chinese city had gained some experience and are going to make use of that in future that is what matters. Especially in athletics, there is a young brigade emerging. Perhaps, Asian Games must be too high for them right now. May be they would make use of their exposure to perform better at the next South Asian Games and then aim at the 2014 Asian Games in Inchon.

China has once again underlined its sporting supremacy. It was at the 2008 Olympic Games that China’s invincible power in the world sporting arena was proved beyond doubt. They shattered American dominance at the Olympics and showed Asian power in world sport. That has given a new dimension to Asian sport, which has been reaching greater heights.

The Guangzhou Asian Games was a high tech affair, as the Beijing Olympics. Science and Information Technology Bureau of Guangzhou Deputy Director Wang Guilin said that up to date high technology benefited the public, increasing their identification with the Asian Games, making a grand Guangzhou Asian Games with hi-tech. He said for the first time, High Definition (HD) technology was applied in broadcasting wonderful events of the Guangzhou Asian Games to the world, which took one third percentage of the whole Asian Games broadcasting.

With high technology, 3,500 intellectualized electronic and visualized trucks provided steady transportation for 31,000 registered personnel in Asian Games. High technology really benefited the most general residents. Deputy Director Wang said, first-class science and information technology also guaranteed a stable information system of Asian Games. Asian Games information technology and communication system, completed with four years, was put into operation. The competition organization was operated in a first level digitization and network.

China has added the 12th five-year plan that would begin in Guangzhou in the year 2011. No effort would be spared to build an innovation city with great innovation ability, complete innovation system, perfect innovation environment, and bright innovation characteristic. That is equally important as the progress of sport.

GUANGZHOU, Thursday