So near and yet so far for Olympian Sumedha

by Reemus Fernando

Sumedha Ranasinghe became country’s first male javelin thrower at Olympics when he took part in the Rio Games in 2016. A massive 83.04 metres throw at Diyagama in 2015 was the breakthrough moment of his career. Since then the undergraduate has been carrying lot of expectations on his shoulders. Expectations were also high when the qualification period for the Tokyo Olympics opened with him ranked 30th in the Road to Olympics Rankings by virtue of his performances in 2019. But lack of competitions there after resulted in him losing his place and was ranked 45th when he was ready to throw at the 60th Interstate Athletics Championship in Patiala, India on Tuesday, the last day of the qualifying period for the Tokyo Olympics.

Ranasinghe hurled the javelin to a distance of 77.28 metres in his very first attempt and that turned out to be his best throw of the evening. He won the bronze medal behind Uttar Pradesh athletes Rohit Yadav and Shivpal Singh. Singh who had already qualified for Olympics was just three centimeters ahead of Ranasinghe. The winner Yadav was ranked 75th in the world prior to Tuesday’s meet.

Just the analysis of the results of the 60th Interstate Athletics Championship is enough to understand how the qualifying system and the world ranking system work. Consistent performances have to be maintained if you are to retain your rankings. The athletes also need quality competitions where they can gain high ranking points. It would have been a totally different scenario was Ranasinghe able to hurl the javelin to a distance of 85 metres, the direct qualifying standard. That was lot to ask from an athlete who was taking part in his first competition outside Sri Lanka since 2019.

Sri Lankan athletes were hampered by lack of quality competitions. The likes of Ranasinghe, fellow thrower Waruna Lakshan and sprinters Kalinga Kumarage, Aruna Dharshana and Nadeesha Ramanayake were at the receiving end. Steeplechase athlete Nilani Ratnayake who was ranked in 30s fell below the 46th ranking position due to non participation in quality competitions.

Quality training has to be compensated with quality competitions and Italy based sprinter Yupun Abeykoon seemed to have found the right combination. He was able to progress smoothly thanks to the quality competitions. Abeykoon was nowhere near the top rankings when the season began. It was just one good competition, a World Athletics Diamond League championship which was needed for him to break in to the top echelon of world’s highest ranked athletes. World Athletics was yet to publish the updated world rankings by the time this article was ready for print. Based on the rankings of the last week, Yupun was ranked 46th which was good enough to secure a world ranking quota place for Olympics.

Sri Lanka is blessed to have three good throwers who have thrown over the 80 metres mark at least once during their careers. That was thought impossible for Sri Lankans nearly a decade ago. The country may not have earned a place for throwers this time around for Olympics but it certainly has the potential to produce one for the next Olympics. But that will largely depend on how these athletes are nurtured and looked after.