Yamani Dulanjali competing at a selection trial before the Youth Asian Championships at Diyagama. (Pic RF)

Waiting for the next Olympic hurdler – Part V

by Reemus Fernando

When the Athletics Championship of the All Island Schools Games was held on a grass track at Beliatta (just a couple of months after the US citizen Christine Merrill competed in the 400 metres hurdles for Sri Lanka at the London Olympics) in 2012, there were some amazing performances that put to shame the records created on synthetic tracks. Of them all, the prowess of an unassuming little girl in the Under-15 age category was not to be missed. Clad in sleeveless top and running shorts, the girl from Ambagamuwa would line up for the heats without an iota of hesitation, win the heat, the semi final and the final. That sequence continued in all three individual events she took part in. She left the Games with three Under 15 titles, not knowing that she would continue such a sequence in a couple of years’ time, in a different event, the 400 metres hurdles at a top Asian Youth meet in Doha. One would expect such talent to blossom beautifully and win at international level when they reaching senior level.

She is 23-years-old now and has joined the multitude of former school athletes shouldering their family burdens.

Some junior athletes who produce outstanding performances at school level wither their performances at senior level. That is largely blamed on the inability of school coaches who peak their athletes prematurely. Yamani Dulanjali was not trained by an armature, who needed sudden results to boost his coaching career. She was still peaking when she last took part in a championship. The coach had the experience of meticulously guiding the destiny of one of Asia’s most successful 400 metres runners, Sugath Thilakaratne, who not only won in Asia but also excelled at world level.

It was not a drop in performances that caused her to quit. She suddenly disappeared from the radar. Hailing from an underprivileged family Yamani received the necessary support from Anura Bandara and Ambagamuwa Central to shape herself into one of the best of her age category in Sri Lanka. She was blessed with the natural ability to shine whatever the event she was introduced to. At Beliatta she competed in the 100m, 200m and 400 metres. With the first ever Asian Youth Athletics Championships to be held in Doha, Bandara groomed her for a new discipline, the 400 metres hurdles. That paid rich dividend as she started establishing age group records in the All Island Schools Games, Junior National Championships and the John Tarbet Senior Athletics Championships.

Yamani Dulanjali was hardly challenged at All Island Schools Games.(Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Sri Lanka Athletics selectors had little doubt that Yamani would do something special when she was selected for the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Doha in 2015. Unfortunately, she could not take part in the 400 metres flat event due to a technical difficulty, but clocked the fastest time in the heats in the 400 metres hurdles. In the final she (61.27 seconds) finished ahead of China’s Qui Zhangyen to win the gold. Kazakhstan’s Adelina Akhmetova who would win medals at senior Asian level later finished third. She was still in the development age but she had proved beyond doubt that she has the potential to become a future star, an Olympian who could probably compete in the 400 metres hurdles.

She was the only gold medalist for Sri Lanka in that meet. Now, that championship is three editions old and her medal remains the only gold that Sri Lanka has won at the championships.

Back at home, there were huge expectations. To her parents she was the next Sriyani Kulawansa. But sadly, there were no dividends. The life went on. Bandara continued to do his part and Yamani improved her timing within the next couple of years. When the time came for her to pull the curtain down on her glittering school career Yamani did it in style. When she left both the Schools Under-20 400 metres (55.29 secs) and the 400 metres hurdles () records were against her name.

With no room for the likes of Yamani Dulanjali to fully blossom, the institutions like the Sports Ministry and the National Olympic Committee can look for talent elsewhere to form Sri Lanka teams for Olympics.