No medals not a surprise at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

The Sri Lanka team that took part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

So, Sri Lanka’s much-hyped-about Tokyo 2020 Olympics challenge is over, and the nine competitors who took part will return empty-handed for the 16th time out of the 18 appearances the country has made at the Olympics since we first took part in 1948.

For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Sri, Lanka had in their contingent an equestrian from Sweden, a gymnast from Japan, two swimmers — one from the USA and the other from Thailand, an athlete from Italy and a retired badminton player of 36 years old.

The entire contingent comprised nine competitors (four men, five women) who competed in seven sports along with 17 officials and coaches. Sri Lanka competed in the sports of artistic gymnastics and equestrian for the first time.

Only three competitors – Mathilda Karlsson (Equestrian), Milka Gehani (Gymnastics) and Yupun Abeykoon (Athletics) — actually qualified to take part based on their international performances. As for the rest, they were all wild card entries.

In the circumstances, winning a medal was out of the question, and in all the events that Sri Lanka took part in, the competitors performed below expectations with some failing to reach even their personal best in the qualifying round and were eliminated. 

For a country like Sri Lanka that does not have the proper infrastructure, training, finances, and lack of promotion of the sport at the grassroot level to nurture and produce medal-winning athletes, an event like the Olympic Games is largely for participation and not for winning medals. Lack of opportunities to compete and regional and international levels and political interference are also barriers. 

We go by the famous saying of Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, known as the father of the modern Olympic Games: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part…..”

With the exception of two Olympic Games, Sri Lanka has stuck to this famed proverb to the very letter.

The only two exceptions were in 1948 in London, where Sri Lanka, as Ceylon, made its Olympic Games debut and in 2000 in Sydney, when Sri Lanka won a Silver in athletics. Duncan White came second in the Men’s 400m hurdles and 52 years later, Susanthika Jayasinghe emulated him when she finished second in the Women’s 200m. Both these athletes achieved success due to their individual brilliance and efforts which has not been matched by any other to this day.

When Sri Lanka’s next Olympic medal will come at this point in time is only a distant dream.

Before looking at the big picture of trying to win an Olympic medal, Sri Lanka should first try to win medals in the Asian Games and assess how good a sports nation they are in the Asian region before trying to conquer the world.

Sri Lanka has not won a Gold medal in an individual event since the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, when Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha won Gold in the Women’s 100m and 400m, respectively. Their last Gold medal win was in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where the men’s team won in cricket and the women’s cricket team won a Bronze.

The last Asian Games held in Indonesia in 2018 saw Sri Lanka send their largest-ever contingent of athletes – 173 (131 men and 42 women) –  to participate in 28 sports, but only to return home empty-handed without a single medal, the fourth time it had happened to them since their first participation in 1951.

Following Sri Lanka’s elimination from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa told Parliament that the country has identified shooting, archery and weight lifting as potential Olympic winners and the Government is forming a long-term plan to win medals in the world’s top sports event targeting 2032.  We live in a nation of hope.