World athletic Chief meets President, commends Lanka’s achievements

DINESH WEERAWANSA

IAAF President Lamine Diack commended Sri Lanka’s international achievements as an emerging athletic nation and appreciated the role played by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to promote athletics and other sports in Sri Lanka.

The President of the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), who is on a three-day official visit to Sri Lanka, made these observations when he met President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees yesterday.

This is the first time that an IAAF President is touring Sri Lanka. President Rajapaksa who hosted the world athletic Chief for lunch, had an hour-long discussion with Diack. The World athletic Chief, who was the Senior Vice President of the IAAF when President Rajapaksa headed the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) in 1997, said he is happy to see one of the former Presidents of an IAAF member federation becoming a Head of State.

The IAAF President commended the role played by President Rajapaksa to promote sport, particularly athletics as the President of the AASL.

Diack was impressed by the keen interest shown by the sports-loving President as they discussed the proposed development work and laying of the new running track at the Diyagama International Athletic Stadium in Kottawa.

Incidentally, it was President Rajapaksa who was heading the AASL 11 years ago when Sri Lanka won its first ever IAAF World Championship medal - a silver by Susanthika Jayasinghe in Athens 1997. The two leaders had a cordial meeting during which they recalled their past memories of the international athletic arena. President Rajapaksa thanked the IAAF President for touring Sri Lanka to inspire local athletes and requested the world body’s support to further promote and popularize track and field in Sri Lanka.

He also invited Diack to grace the opening of the Diyagama International Athletic Stadium next year and the IAAF Chief willingly accepted the invitation.

The IAAF President, who heads the world body which has 213 member countries, was particularly impressed by the recent performance of sprinter Shehan Ambepitiya who bagged three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4 x 100m) at last week’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune.

Incidentally, it was Diack who presented one of the three gold medals to the 18-year-old Lankan student at the victory podium. Earlier in the day, the 75-year-old national from Senegal national who heads the 216-nation World track and field body, flew to Diyagama (five km off Kottawa) to inspect the construction work of Sri Lanka’s new international athletic stadium, the brainchild of the AASL President Major General Palitha Fernando. He showed a keen interest and commended the role played by the Lankan athletic officials to take international athletics outside the capital. He pledged support to Sri Lanka’s new International Athletic Stadium project. Later in the evening, Diack addressed Sri Lanka’s national athletes, junior poolists, officials and coaches at the National Olympic House, Torrington Square.

President of the AASL Major General Palitha Fernando and Secretary Prema Pinnawale accompanied the IAAF President who is due to conclude his tour today.