Representing his country at the Olympics twice and SL 400m Champions Sugath Thilakaratne was elected as the new head of the Sri Lanka Athletics Association at the recently held elections. He met up with ThePapare.com to discuss his plans on how he is going to breathe new life into the National Body.
1. What were the reasons that made you contest this year’s election?
To be honest there was no such special reason, but I always had in my mind that I should work towards the betterment of athletics after I retired from the game. So I believe that thought in the back of my mind led me take this decision on contesting.
2. Since you are elected now, which areas will you focus on mainly?
I have to say the past heads of the association have done a satisfactory job so far in leading this national body. So I think what I have to do is to pursue along their path and do it in a way that brings more results. The structure of the sport is all set by the past heads and there are no major changes that we should do but right now our main focus is to conduct the Junior Athletic Meet in a successfully and to send off a good team for the Asian Championship.
3. Where do you think the current standards of athletics in Sri Lanka are and what steps will you take to improve it?
There has been a slight downfall in our athletics during the recent past but I believe that is something common to any country in a certain time period. So the standards are in a ok and what we need is tune it up a bit since we do have the potential and the talent. As to steps I will take on improving, I think we have to strengthen the facilities that are already given to the athletes.
4. What is your take on the Sugathadasa Track issue and how are you planning to rectify the situation?
It is a bothersome issue but the association has no legal rights to do anything about it. So on our side what I can do is to speak with the Ministry of Sports and request the minister to rectify the situation as this section falls right under the purview of the Sports Ministry.
5. Sri Lanka athletics have seen a down trend, what are the prime reasons for it what will be your steps to overcome this situation?
Yes as I said there has been a slight downtrend but as I mentioned before what we should do is to strengthen our junior levels so that they will fit into the senior level perfectly in time to come. Also I think we should enhance the knowledge of the coaches around the island so that they could do better at their job.
6. Complaints from the athletes are that the Torrington training track is not to standard. What will be the action towards uplifting the standards?
As I said before this is a responsibility that falls under the Ministry of Sports. So I will meet up with the minister soon and request him to take the necessary steps towards the uplifting the standards.
7. Many of the athletes come from remote areas with very less facilitates. Any plans to lend a helping hand to these athletes through the association?
We have already discussed about this issue and we have planned to address this per district. The plan is to raise a sponsor in a district so that sponsor could lend a helping hand to the players in that particular district. This will be implemented soon.
8. Funds are a vital part of any sport, is there a plan in place to call in sponsors?
We will be working towards a specific plan to call in sponsors soon. It is still under discussion but we will come call in sponsors and strengthen the sport.
9. Finally, two years from now when you leave this post, where do you want to place Sri Lanka Athletics?
Well I have time till 2017 and the next Asian Games will be held in the year 2018. So the prime focus is to build a foundation to produce athletes who will be capable of bringing back a medal to the country in 2018 Asian Games. So that after I leave the post in 2017 the future heads could pursue on my foundation and bring back glory to the motherland.
ThePapare.com thanks Sugath Thilakaratne for his time and wishes him the very best for his endeavors.
