Banned weightlifter Chinthana Geethal Vidanaga has set his sights on next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Vidanage, 32, who was the country’s only medalist at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, will complete his two-year ban on May 13. He was banned for four years initially in 2011 when his urine sample provided at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in China contained banned substances.
The suspension was later reduced to two years considering his unblemished record after Vidanage had made an appeal to the International Weightlifting Federation.
“I am looking forward to get back to competition as soon as possible. Now that the ban is almost over, I am relieved and looking forward to start it all over,” said Vidanage who won the gold medal in the men’s 62kg weight category in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, country’s first gold medal, and then won the silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
“It’s being tough two years. But I am willing to forget it and move on,” he said.
His immediate target is the National Championship which will give him a chance to assess his standard.
“There are a few international meets, World Championships and the Commonwealth Championships, coming up later in the year, and I am hoping to compete at least in one of them,” Vidanage said.
