Fisherman’s daughter who conquered the World

She was lied to, betrayed and left dejected, but the determined youngster continues her dream run

It’s not that long ago 17-year-old Parami Wasanthi Marisstella won the Asian U-20 Gold medal in Japan, after which she was promised the sun and the moon by authorities and politicians, but with little support – parents even had to pawn their small property to support her – she did not disappoint as she ended up producing Sri Lanka’s first and only Bronze Medal in the youth Olympic Games.

 

Parami clocked 6 minutes 33.06 seconds in the 2000m steeple chase to achieve the feat. She was up against the leaders of distance running from Kenya and Ethiopia, but Parami – perhaps the shortest athlete in the race – did not panic. She was pushed back several times by the other runners, but she ran around the bunch to come to the forefront every time, showing her determination to go for that elusive medal.

Background

 

Hailing from Chilaw, Parami used to run along the Chilaw beaches very often, since her father was a fisherman. Fortunately, Parami loved running from childhood, as her elder sister Dilhani Fernando was a star junior athlete who won several medals for Sri Lanka, including one at the Asian Youth Games back in 2013. With Dilhani choosing University over athletics – mostly due to lack of economic support for her to continue – her younger sister Parami started doing well in athletics after she joined Kuliyapitiya Central College following in her sister’s footsteps. She then excelled in both rugby and athletics, representing the Sri Lanka Under-16 rugby team, even though her first love for athletics never changed.

 

Media circuses, promises and betrayal

 

Parami produced a surprise Gold Medal in the Asian Junior Athletics Championship by winning the 3000m Steeple Chase in Japan, competing against athletes who were two years elder to her. Upon arrival back home she and the other medalists received a heroes’ welcome. She was then promised the sun and the moon. As per the media release published by the Sports Ministry early this year, an Asian Junior Gold Medalist prize money should be Rupees 1.5 million, and 25% of that amount should be given to the coach. So naturally Parami was expecting that, but the Sports Ministry has yet to pay the said amount.

The Sports Ministry then paid a huge sum to a leading advertising company to produce promotional material where there were several videos made and published about Parami and her parents, talking about the support they received, while the President announced a grant of Rs 1.5 million for Parami. However, the said amount was only given by way of a fixed deposit under the Government, and Parami has access only to its interest, which is about Rs. 10,000 per month.

There were several private institutions who were willing to sponsor junior athletes like Parami, but then the Sports Ministry dropped a bombshell by putting up a pompous media show and announcing they were going to pay Rs. 75,000 monthly to Asian Junior medal winning athletes until the 2024 Olympic Games. However, the payment stopped just after a month, and athletes, including Parami, got only a cheque for Rs. 75,000 on the day of the launch.

She was then promised a house by the Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa, which she never received. According to Parami’s mother, the Minister is not even answering his mobile phone now. She was also promised a scholarship of Rs.50,000 per month through Education Ministry by Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, but all those were mere promises and she got nothing.

The level of publicity which politicians got through mere promises were so much, that people who were willing to sponsor went away assuming that she got all the support she needs from the Government.

But it was left to her parents to provide expenses for sister Dilhani at the university and Parami for training, forcing them to take loan after loan, and even to the extent of pawning the small property they owned, to provide support for the two girls.

 

Following the dream – Coach Janith’s sacrifice

Parami’s coach Janitha Jayasinghe had to endure a couple of heartbreaks when first his star athlete Dilhani Fernando gave up athletics, and then another promising talent, Asmika Herath, who was a certainty to produce a medal at the World Youth Championship last year, could not achieve her dream as an unfortunate official mix-up in submitting the list of athletes for the Asian Youth, resulted in her being unable to participate. Then when Parami came through the ranks, Janitha was determined to see through his dream of producing a star athlete who could win a medal for the country.

National athletes who were training at Sugathadasa Stadium said it was a common sight to see Janitha visiting the Stadium with his young family.

“It was amazing to see him training Parami even when it was raining; encouraging her by shouting and running here and there while his wife was breastfeeding his child in the stands. They deserve that medal just for the sacrifice they made all those days,” said Sprinter Himasha Eashan, who was amazed by the Janitha’s determination to train his athlete for the Youth Olympics.

 

Four international competitions within the year

Parami had the rare chance of having experienced four international competitions prior to the Youth Olympics, a luxury even senior athletes in Sri Lanka hardly get. And the Athletics Association made sure that she had her coach by her side in each of those competitions, which helped immensely to the success she achieved during the Youth Olympics.

She first competed in the South Asian Junior Championship in Colombo in May; she then went to Japan in June for the Asian Junior Championship, winning a Gold Medal. Then she went to Thailand for the Youth Olympic Asian Qualification trials, where she ran a world lead time in the 2000m steeple chase to qualify for the Youth Olympics. Just a week after, she went to Finland for the World Junior Championship to compete in the 3000m Steeple Chase.

Janitha made sure she got regular competition by competing in several local events with seniors, while also participating in the All Island School road race to prepare for the 4km cross country event which was included in the Youth Olympic programme.

Her first international tour was to Russia for the Children of Asia International Sports Games in 2016, so altogether Parami had experience of participating in five international events walking into the Youth Olympics; perhaps the most experienced in terms of international competition compared to the other youth runners in her event.

It was a dream come true for the youngster, but her family’s economic background and living away from Colombo will not help her progress, as steeple chase facilities are available only in the synthetics tracks at Sugathadasa and Diyagama Stadiums.

What Parami has to say

 

After producing the historic medal for Sri Lanka, little Parami had this to say.

“We always dreamt about this. We had many hurdles to clear on and off the field, but I was prepared for anything. Janitha Sir trained me on sunny days as well as rainy days to prepare me to face any condition in Argentina. It helped me a lot as the coldness here did not affect me,” said Parami .

“My family finds it hard to support me and cover my expenses. They don’t show or say it, but I know they are going through extreme hardship to meet my training expenses. If someone could sponsor me it’ll be of immense help for my future athletics career,” added Parami.