by Reemus Fernando 

Chamod Yodasinghe took a giant step towards cementing his position as one of the top sprinters in the country when he clocked a blistering time of 10.27 seconds to establish a new meet record in the men’s 100 metres at the  National Sports Festival at the Sugathadasa Stadium last week.

The 24-year-old overtook Umanga Surendra (10.36 secs), Shehan Ambepitiya (10.31 secs), Chinthake de Soysa (10.29 secs) and Vinoj Suranjaya (10.27 secs) to occupy the third place in the all time best Sri Lankan performances in the men’s 100 metres.

The 10.27 seconds is the biggest gain the sprinter trained by Sanjeewa Weerakkody has achieved since he was introduced to the latter by his former coach Lalith Liyanage in 2018.

A late developer Yodasinghe had an impressive start to the last season when he clocked 10.37 seconds at the first selection trial for the Asian Games in March (2023). That was the first time he clocked sub 10.40 seconds and now he has reduced 0.10 seconds to be on par with some of the top sprinters the country has ever produced.

This year there were huge expectations when the national record holder Yupun Abeykoon arrived for the National Championships to pursue for his Olympic berth. Yodasinghe has largely remained unchallenged at local events and a possible dual between Abeykoon and Yodasinghe would have resulted in him producing his best. But when Abeykoon pulled out without completing the 100 metres heat Yodasinghe had no rival to challenge his bid for a third national title.

What Yodasinghe has achieved last week is remarkable considering the lack of competition and  the deteriorating track condition at the Sugathadasa Stadium. After having reached his personal best what would be his target next? “My long term goal is the 2028 Olympics. Others include next year’s Asian Athletics Championship,” said Yodasinghe in an interview with the ‘Sunday Island’ after he was awarded the best athlete title at the National Sports Festival on Friday.

Performances such as Yodasinghe’s need to be  applauded and he needs to be given necessary facilities to accomplish the target he has set for himself.

During the last five years he has proven beyond doubt that he is a true fighter and he has received the necessary backing from his coach Weerakkody to break barriers. But from now on the aim is to brush shoulders against world class sprinters. Such efforts need huge financial backing which Yodasinghe, Weerakkody and his employer Sri Lanka Army can not provide alone. Yodasinghe deserves the backing of a sponsor as he aims high and Weerakkody who is with the ministry of education needs to move his training base from Kandy to Colombo to be physically present with his charge. It is incumbent upon authorities to make necessary arrangements fast for this pair to reach their full potential.

Yodasinghe thanked his coach, the Army, the president of Sri Lanka Athletics and his training partners for the support given to reach where he is today.

He did 100m, 200m and long jump as a beginner at Dorawaka Sirinivasa MV before being  introduced to systematic training at St. Mary’s College Kegalle. He was under Lalith Liyanage’s guidance from 2014 to 2018 and won podium positions at top national level in 2018. While most of the athletes who won top positions at junior level alongside Yodasinghe have either simply faded away or given up athletics Yodasinghe has  blossomed at the right age to deliver exciting performances.