Athlete Sriyani Dhammika came into limelight through hardship and tears

Sriyani Dhammika Menike

Muhandiramlage Don Sriyani Dhammika Menike, who represented Sri Lanka at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events, was born in Galle on February 3, 1970.

Educated at the Manawila Upananda MV and at Sanghamitta BMV, Galle, Dhammika Menike took up athletics early and won sprint events in the Under-11 age group category.

Having shown much promise in Inter-Schools Track and Field Meets, Sriyani entered the 800m and 1,500m events in the 1984 National Athletics Championships.

At this meet, she came third in the 800m and second in the 1,500m event. In 1988, she was selected as the Best Female Athlete at the All-Island Schools Athletics Meet.

In 1989, she was crowned as the Best Female Athlete at the National Championships. She has improved her own record in the 800m on as many as eight occasions and her present record is 2.09.94s.

The record set by her in the 1,500m event has been shattered by her on seven occasions and the present record is 4.33.7s. Her first international meet was the Asian Inter-Cities Meet held in Singapore in 1985. She was the youngest athlete to represent Sri Lanka at this meet but won a Gold Medal in the 3,000m event beating top athletes from 16 countries. In the 1,500m event, she won a Bronze Medal. In 1986, she toured Russia to participate in an athletic meet held in Baku and in the same year she was placed sixth in the 3,000m at the Asian Junior Athletics Meet held in Indonesia.

In 1989, she won the third place in the 800m event at the Asian Inter-Cities Athletics Meet held in Hong Kong and at the 4th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games held in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Sriyani also participated in the Asian Athletics Championships held in New Delhi, India in 1989 and in Malaysia in 1991. In 1991, at the 5th SAF Games held in Colombo, she won two Gold Medals in the 800m and 1,500m events defeating more experienced Indian athletes.

She also won a Silver Medal in the 4X400m relay event. At the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, she was placed 26th out of 45 athletes participating in the 800m event and recording a time of 2.03.6s.

In the 1,500m event her time was 4.26.7s. After the Olympic Games, she participated in an Invitational Meet in Malaysia and won two Gold Medals in the 800m and 1,500m events.

Her story is one of hardships and tears as she had to come a long way from her remote village through determination and courage to the limelight in the international arena. (C.D)