Nationals postponed, but athletes left in quandary
– Athletes in Torrington hostel to receive passes to train
Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) has decided to postpone the National Athletics Championship, which was scheduled for 5 and 6 December, to 26, 27, 28 and 29 December due to the prevailing health situation in the country.
SLA also cancelled the Junior National Championship 2020 which was scheduled to be held this year, and the Junior athletes will have to forget about this season and prepare for the next, with off-season training for those who can train in curfew free areas.
But National Athletes are still in a quandary, as most of them are without a place to continue practices. Apart from areas which have imposed quarantine curfew, several other stadiums around the country – and gymnasiums too – have been closed down, leaving athletes no option but to stay home, though health guidelines doesn’t prevent the closure of any sporting facilities located within curfew free areas.
Upon inquiry, both Institute of Sports Medicine (ISM) of the Sports Ministry and Sugathadasa Sports Complex Authority confirmed they had not advised any stadiums located outside curfew areas to be closed down.
“Most officials and workers in some of these stadiums are political appointees who are very lazy to carry out their task; hence, they somehow find a way to close down the stadium rather than following guidelines and keep it open for athletes,” said a top official on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Director General of ISM, Dr. Lal Ekanayaka, said he had discussions with several stadiums and area PHIs, and some stadiums had agreed to grant permission for national athletes to train.
However, stadiums such as Digana (in Kandy) had imposed a rule that athletes should come in their personal vehicle if they want to train. Most National athletes don’t own a personal vehicle, and hence, had been left without a place to train. One athlete uses a bicycle and travels 16km per day to reach the stadium to fulfill the stadium requirement to get permission to train.
Athletics Association took the decision to postpone the National Championship on Saturday when the quarantine curfew had been extended till the 9th. Earlier the curfew that was imposed last Thursday by the Government was to be lifted by 5.00 a.m. today.
Meanwhile, the Sports Ministry has issued passes to National athletes who are staying at the Torrington hostel to continue training at Torrington stadium. However, Gampaha District where most of the athletes live, is still under quarantine curfew (which lasted the entire month of October), and hence, those athletes are nowhere near ready to face a competition in December after being confined to their homes.
In addition, athletes also had to face another unexpected problem at their boarding houses, where the landlords did not like them going out for training these days, which they felt would increase the risk of infection.
Apart from Colombo, National athletes train in many parts of the country such as Kandy, Matara, Nuwaraeliya, Kalutara, Negombo, Gampaha and Rathnapura.
