A former boxer, who produced a first placed winner at the 200 metres is raising eyebrows that has even caused some jealousy among the established track and field coaches in the country as a new champion was born on Friday at the Sugathadasa stadium in Colombo where the Senior trials for the Asian Games was held.
Vinod Suranjaya de Silva, an up-and-coming star in track and field sports won the 200 metres with a timing of 20.68 seconds, but what became a talking point was that the sprinter’s coach, Vimukthi de Soysa was a boxing trainer and not someone who had represented Sri Lanka in athletics.
But Vimukthi de Soysa has now become the voice for everyone who has been sidelined because of politics and backstabbing.
“I faced so many problems and those elite athlete coaches were running me down saying that I should not be coaching athletes as I did not represent Sri Lanka in track and field. But here I am someone who has produced a successful 200 metres champion”, De Soysa told the Sunday Observer.
De Soysa also may be having what some established athletics coaches don’t posses. He has done a Level One course in strength conditioning in Australia and a Level Two exam in Singapore. He also claims to be having the blessings of retired 200 metres women’s champion Susanthika Jayasinghe.
De Soysa initially studied at Revantha National School Balapitiya where Suranjaya was a junior school-mate and later enlisted at St Benedict’s College in Colombo where he won medals in the 400 metres hurdles at the National School Games in 2006 and the Junior Nationals the following year.
He started off as the strength conditioning coach for cricketers at the Tamil Union Club before being involved full time in boxing while working for MAS Holdings where most of the country’s boxers are employed.
He credits boxing promoter and mentor Dion Gomes as the man who played a major role in his success as a Sri Lanka junior boxing coach.
But De Soysa’s exploits also took him to India where he trained some of that country’s famous fighters in champion boxer Sarita Devi and Commonwealth Games medal winner Pinki Jangara.
Nevertheless track and field is not alien field to De Soysa as he coached Sri Lanka’s Para athlete Amara Indumathi who won a Silver in the 400 metres and Bronze in the long jump at the Asian Para Games in 2014.
Unlike many coaches De Soysa does not count rupees and cents and is ably supported by Nutritionist Nishantha Jayamanne, Motivational trainer Bhathiya Attanayake and physiotherapist Ajith Kumara.
pix by Samantha Weerasiri