Nation Salutes Susanthika
[29 September 2000]

All Sri Lankans at the Olympic Stadium as well as in her home country, were joyous when Sri Lanka's wonder sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe raced her way in to the Sri Lankan history winning a bronze medal in the women's 200m at the Olympic Games in Sydney yesterday.

Since Duncan White's feat in 1948, none of the Sri Lankans has even reached the semifinal stage. But Susanthika Jayasinghe became the first ever athlete in the Sri Lankan history entering the women's 100m semis as well as winning an Olympic medal.

Fire crackers exploded moments after the race and crowds gathered around public television sets celebrated her victory with joy.

"I simply feel great that I could make my little country proud. I was told by my coach to run the first 50-100m fast and to consolidate from there. I just did that," a jubilant Jayasinghe said.

"I was aiming for the silver and was very confident of going for that. True that I was a little nervous when I was on the blocks because all dreams of Sri Lanka were on me," she said.

She also said that she saw the Bahamas girl slightly ahead of her only in the last couple of meters.

Her coach Tony Campbell said that Jayasinghe has tremendous potential and could even go for better things in future.

The Nation salutes Susanthika Jayasinghe for her tremendous and courageous performance !

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