The Daily News from today will feature the 25 sports athletes who won gold medals at the recently concluded South Asian Games in India in a series of articles giving an insight to their life and career
Nimali Liyanaarachchi (women’s 800m)
 Nimali Liyanaarachchi |
Nimali Liyanaarachchi who won the 800m gold medal at the South Asian Games (SAG) said that her aim is to break the Sri Lanka record in this event at the next opportunity and to qualify for the Rio Olympics in August this year. The Sri Lanka record for the 800m event is held by Dhammika Menike who clocked 2:03.85 secs at the Barcelona Olympics.
Nimali said that she was unable to break the Sri Lanka record because of lack of synthetic tracks in Sri Lanka which is hindering the progress of not only her but other athletes as well.
Nimali trains at the Nambadagaswewa grounds in Sooriyawewa and she brought honour to her country by winning a bronze medal in the 800m event at the Asian Athletic Championship which was the only medal won by Sri Lanka in athletic in that championship. When she was asked by former Sports Minister Naveen Dissanayake what she requires to improve her standard she requested for a modern track for Sooriyawewa.
Her wish was granted by the Minister when he allocated Rs. 2 million from the Ministry to build the building for the gymnasium and to improve the ground to a certain extent. She said she now trained at the new gymnasium in Sooriyawewa. She lost her father a few years ago and her mother R.G. Sriyani is a farmer in Sooriyawewa who spends for her nutrition with the meagre income she earns.
Nimali who is a Corporal of the Sri Lanka Air Force paid a glowing tribute to Sports Officer of Sooriyawewa Sujith Abeysekera for the support extended to her reach to reach this standard. She also thanked Capital Assurance Company, Ven. Assaji Thera of Gangarama and the District Secretary of Sooriyawewa for their guidance.
Indunil Madushan (men’s 800m)
Ekanayake Mudiyaselage Indunil Madushan Herath who hails from a farming family near the Randenigala Reservoir did his village and country proud by winning the men’s 800m event in a time of 1:51.46 secs at the SAG in India.
He was virtually in tears when the National Anthem of Sri Lanka was sung at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium, Guwahati by the Sri Lankan supporters because he was able to bring honour and fame to his motherland and for being able to make his poor father and mother happy. He started his education at Hasalaka, Andaganawa MMV and later shifted to Walala A. Ratnayake Vidyalaya which helped him in a long way to win medals.
Madushan started representing his school from the year 2000 in the 800m event and qualified to take part in the Youth Olympics and Youth Asian Games in Singapore. He had the honour of winning the bronze medal in the 800m event in a time of 1:56.00 secs.
After finishing his schooling he came to Colombo in 2011 and joined the Sri Lanka Army and won the 4x400m relay event at the Lucifornia Sports Festival. He also won three silver medals in the three Grand Prix events held in Thailand last year.
Madushan said his only ambition is to break the 800m Sri Lanka record and to qualify for the Rio Olympics this year. He said his mother, father and his coaches were a source of encouragement to help him achieve this feat.
Add new comment