Jayasinghe was born in Atnawala, Sri Lanka. Brought up in a poor family in a small village 60 kilometres north of Colombo, where running spikes cost more than the average month's wage, she had no access to proper sports equipment or coaches. Yet in spite of these underprivileged conditions she managed to progress to a standard where she could claim medals at both the Summer Olympics and IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
Susanthika was the first and only Asian national to win an Olympic medal in any of 100m, 200m or 400m sprint events.
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Career [edit]
After her performance in the 200 m race at the 1997 World Championships she travelled to the United States of America to train. Along with Dhamyanthi Dharsha and Sugath Tillakaratne her athletics performances have lifted Sri Lanka to the international competitive level. In 2000 she became the nation's first Olympic medalist since 1948, when she finished behind Marion Jones and Pauline Davis-Thompson in the Women's 200 meters. On October 5, 2007 Marion Jones admitted to having been taking performance enhancing drugs prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics, and Jayasinghe was later awarded the silver medal.[1]Jayasinghe was suspended from competition in April 1998 for failing a drug test that she claimed was rigged due to her political beliefs and a falling out with a Sports Ministry official. She was later cleared of the offense. After returning home with her Olympic medal she was attacked by a male athlete because, she believed, she had been supporting former government members in an election campaign. With no support from her national athletics association she had to go heavily into debt to even reach the 2000 Olympics but after her medal achievement there she was supported by a national fundraising drive in her homeland. In spite of that she left her home country to live in Los Angeles. She currently lives, however, in Sri Lanka. She told some of her story during a press conference for the women's 200m medalists at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she was asked if her country would be proud of her. In a quiet voice, she said:
"I can't explain. You wouldn't understand. They give me, trouble, trouble, trouble. I give them bronze medal. It'll make them sad... It was trouble with me. Doping and sexual harassment."She then went on to speak of officials coming to her house, giving her a drug test and refusing to seal the urine specimen with her watching. She refused to sign the release. Later they told her she had tested positive for nandrolone. By the time she was cleared, she was no longer welcome by her country's sporting establishment.[2]
She visited Los Angeles to train with Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (Asian Games Gold Medalist in high jump in 1958, and two time Olympian in high jump - in 1952 and 1956). Shortly thereafter, she won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in Jordan and a bronze medal in the 200 m race at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. It was her first World Championship medal in 10 years. On 13 August 2007 she was ranked by the IAAF as 18th in the World for the 100 m sprint and 20th in the World for the 200 m sprint.
On February 5, 2009, Jayasinghe announced her retirement from sports [3] in order to focus on becoming a mother.[4] On March 31, 2009, she gave birth to a baby boy.[5]
In November 2010 she announced her plan to return to competition.[6][7]
Personal bests [edit]
| Date | Event | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 9, 2000 | 100 m | Yokohama, Japan | 11.04 [8] |
| September 28, 2000 | 200 m | Sydney, Australia | 22.28 |
Achievements [edit]
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Asian Games | Hiroshima, Japan | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 2nd | 200 m |
| 1999 | IAAF Grand Prix Final | Munich, Germany | 8th | 200 m |
| 2000 | Summer Olympics | Sydney, Australia | 2nd | 200 m |
| 2001 | World Indoor Championships | Lisboa, Portugal | 4th | 200 m |
| 2002 | IAAF World Cup | Madrid, Spain | 3rd | 100 m |
| 2002 | Asian Championships | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 1st | 100 m |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, Great Britain | 4th | 100 m |
| 2002 | IAAF World Cup | Madrid, Spain | 4th | 200 m |
| 2002 | Asian Championships | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 1st | 200 m |
| 2006 | Asian Games | Doha, Qatar | 2nd | 100 m |
| 2006 | Asian Games | Doha, Qatar | 3rd | 200 m |
| 2007 | Asian Championships | Amman, Jordan | 1st | 100 m |
| 2007 | Asian Championships | Amman, Jordan | 1st | 200 m |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 3rd | 200 m |
Details are taken by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanthika_Jayasinghe
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