Sonali and Anuradha anxiously awaiting athletic competition

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from England

Hurdler Sonali Christine Merril and marathon runner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray are anxiously awaiting to see the start of the athletic competition of the XXXth Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium here on Friday.

Both the Lankan athletes are hard at training and are in good shape, according to team manager Rear Admiral Shemal Fernando, who is also the Secretary of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka.Rear Admiral Fernando said the two Lankan athletes are following their training schedules and are determined to register their personal best timings to set new Sri Lanka records during the Olympics. Fernando attended the athletic managers’ technical meeting held last morning, prior to the commencement of the track and field meetings. He also had a brief meeting with the IAAF President Lamine Diack and rest of the officials.

US-based Lankan lass, Sonali Christine Merril will be seen in action in the women's 400m hurdles on Sunday (5) and Cooray will compete in London 2012 Olympic marathon on August 12 - the final day of the 204-nation Games here in the British capital.

Sri Lanka's leading long distance runner has been based in the UK and it was only a couple of months ago he qualified to compete at 2012 Olympic Games by achieving the qualifying standards at this year's London Marathon.Cooray rejoined the Sri Lanka contingent at the Athletes Village last afternoon after he was granted to stay away for three days.His coach has advised that the hard surface training at the AthletesVillages is not the ideal for the marathon. Hence, we went outside the Athletes Village to complete his training schedule under the advice of his local coach in the UK.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, hurdler Merril said she is happy to represent Sri Lanka once more. It was little over an year ago that Merril was spotted in a worldwide Lankan talent search by the then AASL President Major General Palitha Fernando. Considering her experience and impressive US domestic record, Merril was immediately given an opportunity to represent Sri Lanka in the big league. She made a dream debut for Sri Lanka by winning women’s 400m hurdles bronze medal at the last Asian Championships in Kobe, Japan in 2011. She clocked 57.30 seconds, behind Japan’s Satomi Kubkura (56.52) and China’s Qi Yong (56.69) to secure the third place. In the same year, she got the rare opportunity of competing at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. She clocked 58.20 seconds in women’s 400m hurdles at Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok in May,2012.

“I am pleased with my recent performance and will make every effort to better the current Sri Lanka mark and also to achieve my personal best timing. I know the volume of high competition that exists at this level. The running surface at Olympic Park looks harder,” she said.The 24-year-old Lankan lass who is based in California, USA, said that she will make every endeavour to make her presence felt.

“I have been following the workouts and schedules given to me by my American coach Joey Tosta. I am in touch with him over the phone on a daily basis. I am following his instructions though he is not here to guide me on the spot,” she said.

Meanwhile, defending 200m Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown fine tuned her preparations for what will be her fourth Olympic Games. “I had a rather quiet July as I focused primarily on fine-tuning for the OlympicGames. It seems so hard to grasp that London will represent my fourth Olympic Games, let me see, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and now London,” she said.

“Time certainly moves fast in a sport where being faster is one of the Olympic Games motto. Prior to reaching England, I competed once in Luzern, Switzerland. It was my first time there and I have a very hard time choosing between the hospitality received and the lush scenery of this Swiss city as to which impressed me more,” she said.

Hosts Great Britain suffered a big blow even before the commencement of the athletic proper. Their ace long distance runner Paula Radcliffe's has had to withdraw from the London 2012 women's marathon due to an injury.

The 38-year-old world record-holder had to pull out after a foot problem flared up again. UK Athletics said in a statement: ‘After a fitness test on Sunday it was concluded that she would not be able to race competitively to the best of her abilities.’ Radcliffe said: ‘From the day when it was announced that London had won the bid, taking part and performing well in the London Olympic Games has been a major goal in my life. “The goal of a fifth Olympics in my home country, what better? The chance to make amends to myself for bitter disappointments at the previous two Olympics,” she said.Italy has suffered the most crucial blow with two of their key players withdrawing due to injuries. Alex Schwazer has given up on his quest to win both the 20km and 50km race walk titles. Schwazer has pulled out of the men's 20km event in order to concentrate on defending his Olympic 50km title. He made the decision after suffering from a bout of flu, which had prevented him from training for three days. Italy's technical director Francesco Uguagliati said: ‘There is no reason to worry. Alex just prefers not to expend too much energy”.Another Italian casualty is Antonietta Di Martino who has been forced to withdraw from the high jump competition due to an injury. The 34-year-old - the World Championship bronze medallist - underwent surgery on a knee problem in Rome last Friday. Di Martino originally suffered the injury to her left knee at a training camp in Tenerife in April. The operation was successful, but her recovery is expected to take three to four months.

LONDON, Thursday.