Sriyani Kulawansa – Sri Lanka’s best Hurdler
Born on 1 March 1970 in Melsiripura, Ragedara in the Kurunegala District, Mohotti Arachchilage Deshabandu Sriyani Kulawansa is probably the best Hurdler the Island Nation has ever produced. She represented Sri Lanka in the 1992 Olympic Games held in Spain at the young age of 22. The 1996 Olympic Games held in US saw her advancing to the quarter finals of the 100m Hurdles event as she registered her personal best timing of 12.91 sec. Her final Olympic Games were the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She was very consistent in the Asian Championships and her best year was 1998, where she won Silver in the Commonwealth Games and Bronze in the Asian Games. From 1989 to 2004 she has participated in over 70 International Games, and still holds the record in the South Asian Games for the hurdles event.
Q. When did you identify your passion for sports and such an active lifestyle?
A. According to my mother, I was a very playful child. Our house was located on a hill and I was the vehicle of our house, running up and down for errands. This is when I realized my energy and love for sports.
Q. Your International wins precede you, but what paved the way? How was Sriyani as a school sportswoman?
A. After my scholarship exams I transferred to Ibbagamuwa Central College from Udakadawala Primary School and I did all 4 games the school had for girls: Athletics, Elle, Netball and Volleyball. I won All Island Championships in all these games. In1989 I won the award for the best sportswoman in Athletics, Netball and Volleyball which no other has done till date. When I went to the National levels I had to drop Netball and Volleyball and focus on Athletics.
Q. Did you start off as a hurdler in your youth?
A. No. My main event was High Jump at School and if my school had Tennis, I wouldn’t have become an Athlete in the first place.
Q. Then how did you become a Hurdler?
A. When I was in the 1989 South Asian Games practice squad I got to know that the high jump event was cancelled due to lack of participants. I wanted to leave the Games but my parents and Coach Dervin Perera motivated me to stay on and then I changed my event to Hurdles.
Q. How did you feel when you competed in the Olympics for the first time?
A. Scared and nervous. I was just 22. Never have I seen such a big crowd in my entire life. I felt like an ant with over 70,000 people looking at me. I was placed 28th out of about 80 participants, which was a good achievement.
Q. What’s your proudest achievement?
A. Winning the Silver Medals in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Q. You represented the country in 3 Olympic Games and recorded your best ever timing in the 1996 Olympic Games; yet why does your victory in the Commonwealth Games have more value?
A. After winning the medal I was asked what I wanted for the victory. The only thing I wanted was my village to get electricity and my request was granted in a month by Minister (Anuruddha Ratwatte), Shalinda Dissanayaka and President Kumaranathunga. I could have asked for anything but all I wanted was to solve the pressing issue in my village. When I think that my village got electricity because of me it gives me immense happiness which cannot be compared to anything.
Q. Why did you retire from athletics? Were you forced to retire? Did you leave with disappointment?
A. No not at all. I guess it was the best decision I made at that time. I did Athletics until I was 34, and that’s a long time. A woman needs to be a mother and I was aging. I was even selected for the 2004 Olympics. I knew I couldn’t win so I made the decision to say goodbye and give that chance to another athlete. I retired on a high.
Q. Life after Athletics – Are you still involved in Sports?
A. After retiring I stayed 5 years with my daughter and family. 3 out of 5 years I was coaching. I then got a request from Education Ministry to provide my services to the students. I’ve been working with the Education Ministry for the past 8 years and am serving as a Project Officer.
Q. Why did you study for a degree, which created quite a buzz in the country?
While I was working at the Ministry of Education for eight years, at certain instances I felt that I did not have the best knowledge or expertise when making decisions, especially about management. As people who have been involved in sports since childhood we have the experience to manage roles in sports and Education Ministries, but we lack the formal education to serve the people better. I applied for a degree in Sports Management in 2015 but it was disrupted midway when I was refused leave from work. In 2017 I attempted to get a degree in Education but that too ended up in delays and complications. The government has made promises to secure us more opportunities for education in future. I’m keen to see a change.
Q. Is Education necessary?
A. Yes, we were not able to continue our higher studies not because we were weak but we had committed ourselves to sports. When I participated in the Olympics, almost all my rivals had University entry. Other countries have university entry based on Sport’s merit. We need to change this system and create a secure future for our athletes. Then talented children and their parents will not refuse to dedicate their talent to sports knowing they have a secure future.
Q. If you compare now and then, what changes do you see in professional Athletics?
A. We had minimum facilities back then, but they actively searched for talent and we were dedicated to give the best performance. Now we have better facilities but talented ones rarely get the exposure and do not show as much dedication as we did. They lack discipline. Sport is a lifestyle of eating on time, practicing on time and recovering on time. Back in our days one main reason why we performed well was because of Sports Minister S. B Dissanayaka, who held training camps for 365 days with all facilities and we made sacrifices on our part to reach our goal.
Q. So talent does not get a chance? What do you suggest we do?
Talent needs to be identified but we have no policies in place for it. The previous minister arranged a Talent Identification Programme (TID) which we spent millions on but when the Ministry changed the programme vanished.
Q. Do you point the finger at national selectors and coaches?
A. Yes. When an athlete is in school it’s the responsibility of the Education Ministry, but when the child leaves school it’s the responsibility of the National selectors to not abandon him. Sadly it’s not happening at the moment. Education Ministry can’t do something like TID alone. Sports Ministry should get involved and have a national policy.
Q. What should be done differently?
A. Create a path for these sportsmen and women. Simple example. We won in Boxing and weightlifting in the Commonwealth Games and when they came back to Sri Lanka they were welcomed with garlands, the media buzzed with their news and they earned well, but their talents were not used to create more talent. We need to help them stay active in sports and identify their strengths whether as a coach or an administrative role. We need to create them a path – a path they can go after retiring.
Q. What’s the need of a psychologist in sports?
A. We didn’t have that support then but it is a good development in Sports to boost the child’s motivation and confidence before and after a game and ensure the mentality is high. But as proposed a psychologist should not be used to solve the issues like a child not going for practices on time or not having a good diet.
Q. When can we win a medal in Olympics? Do you have anyone in mind?
A. With proper practice we can win a medal in the 2024 Olympics. Aruna Darshana has the potential to win an Olympic Medal if we take proper care of him.
Q. Finally tell us about Sri Lanka Olympians (SLO)
A. There is a World Olympian Association and each country has its own Olympic Association. The main aim of this Association is to look into the welfare of the Sportsmen and Women who took part in Olympics and then uplift the games of the nation by sharing our knowledge and experience with upcoming players. I am its President; Sugath Thilakarathne the Vice President, Damayanthi Darsha is the Secretary and Anuruddha Rathnayaka the Treasurer. First, we presented Gold Medal to all the Olympians. We organized an Olympian gathering and an Olympic run with over 2,500 participants. We donated Rs 5 Lakhs to former Olympian Wimaladasa who was sick, and many other welfare activities were also done.
By Vimukthi Adithya/Ceylon Today
