A top sports doctor in the country, Dr Lal Ekanayake wants athletes in all sporting disciplines to be active and remain in touch with whatever training they can do and not be discouraged by the clampdown on their schedules.
He wants them to do their training even in their homes.
“Athletes must keep to their individual training schedule and follow the guidance of medical experts properly whenever possible,” saidDr Ekanayake.
“We now know the real situation in the world.
“At this moment the coronavirus has spread rapidly and experts are always aware of it. During these situations if you think the training must be stopped, then it will affect you badly.
“As we know performance is based on training. So we cannot be ignoring it,” he added.
Dr Ekanayake further said that athletes need protection but should not hide in the dark due to the threat of the coronavirus.
“Coronavirus or any other disease can come and go.That is a general thing and it will happen repeatedly and this is not the first time the human race had faced a threat. But history shows we have succeeded,” said Dr. Ekanayake.
“We must defeat it and follow the guidelines of medical experts
“Keep your strength and practice too. If you have a gymnasium of your own, that is good. But you can also use a common gym bearing in mind the precautions that must be taken before and after you use the public gym like using gloves and washing your hands. But don’t panic.
“We know that if an athlete stops practice in-between his carrier it can affect him badly and it will be difficult to re-build in a short span of time. So never stop your training”, said Dr. Ekanayake.