Susanthika: 'It Was Difficult to Enroll My Children in Royal and Visakha – I Won't Be Coming Back Here, I'm Doing Well in Australia'

Olympic silver medalist Susanthika Jayasinghe, the champion runner who brought glory to Sri Lanka, has moved to Australia with her two children and is working as a coach at a sports club there. After a long time, she returned to Sri Lanka for a holiday and shared her thoughts with sports journalists, as follows:

"I am fifty years old now. The 'forty curfew' has arrived, and in a little while, my eyesight will also weaken. Then, what I have learned will be of no use. No one has benefited from it. My sport will also be of no use then. That's why I decided to take my two children and go to another country, to coach them with what I know.

So, I have great value there. The experiences I gained, the things I know, the preparation before a competition, the environment after a victory... I can teach all these things to the children there. I have been given the opportunity there to properly impart what I have learned to those children.

Even the Sri Lankan children there are keen to come and train with me. Many have already started. If I get an opportunity to train or develop these athletes, I am ready. (But) I don't think I want to come back to Sri Lanka now. Because I am a mother, aren't I? I am raising my two children alone. Any mother or father thinks about their child. So, I also want to think about my two children. Because my mother and father were happy to see how I conquered the world. I took care of them, and they passed away very happily.

So, I also wish to see my two children conquer the world someday. As a woman, I believe that if they study well, take inspiration from me, see the journey I've made, they will take care of me when I get old. I struggled for six months to get my daughter admitted to Visakha. Even though I brought four world medals to this country, I couldn't get my son admitted to Royal (Grade 1) for three months. I didn't enter politics because I knew politics, but to serve the country through sports.

However, due to the actions of those with narrow agendas, I didn't get an opportunity to do any work, nor was I given one.

People are very petty and envious. Because of that, instead of focusing on those things, I have my own path. I did something no one else could. I am unique in Asia. I took my country to the world stage. I am very proud of that. That's why my countrymen are also abroad, and they love me. They know my value and my place in the world. With that, creating a good place for my two children and living is the wish of any mother. I don't want to let go of those innocent wishes. Because I am 50 now, and I only have about five or ten more years to 'play the game'. Who knows if we will even live that long?"