Vidusha Lakshani won an Asian Junior Athletics Championship medal in 2014. She took under her belt the Junior National record (Under-20) in the same year.
She was Sri Lanka’s sole girls’ competitor at the IAAF World Junior Championships last year. She was selected for the Sri Lanka national team for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship when she smashed the national record a fortnight ago at Diyagama. The 18-year-old improved her own meet record with a feat of 13.12 metres on the second day of the Junior National Championships yesterday.
The unassuming jumping coach Philip Ranjith, who has trained Lakshani from the time she was eligible for competitions, queried as to what more the Newstead Girls Schools, Negombo jumper should do to prove her caliber after her latest triumph on Sunday.
Ranjith said that he was disgusted that Lakshani’s impressive performances had not caught the eye of authorities despite the media hype.
“She has not received the due recognition she deserves. Recently the athletes who won medals at the Asian Youth Championships were given awards for their performances. But a year after, she won an Asian Junior Championship medal, which is more advanced than the Youth Championships, she is yet to be recognised for her performance,” said Ranjith in an interview with ‘The Island’ at Diyagama yesterday.
“Three athletes won medals at Asian Junior level last year. There was even not a cup of tea for those three winners,” said Ranjith.
Lakshani proved beyond doubt that she is a world apart from her counterparts in the Under-20 age category on Sunday. While the 18-year-old competed alongside athletes in the Under-23 age category using the 11 metres take-off board, the rest of the competitors were allowed to compete with the 9 metres take-off board later at the adjacent pit.
She was the only competitor in both age categories to clear the 13 metres mark, though it was no surprise for an athlete holding the Sri Lanka record. The Sri Lanka Air Force twins, K. A. S. Dulanjani and K. A. T. Lakshani shared the first and second places of the Under-23 triple jump with performances of 12.76 and 12.31 metres respectively. Incidentally, Dulanjani’s 12.76 metres feat is a new record in the Under-23 age category.
While Lakshani’s feat of 13.12 metres improved her own Junior National record by 13 centimetres, none of her counterparts in the Under-20 age category (who used the 9 metres take-off board) could clear the 12 metres barrier.
