Former sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe, who reportedly left Sri Lanka last October to reside in Australia, has applied for permanent residency in the latter country, sources close to her have revealed to The Sunday Morning Sports.
The Olympic Silver medallist who is currently staying in Melbourne with her two children had been attached to the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team as a consultant at the time of her departure.
However, when contacted, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) sources said that Jayasinghe had flown to Australia having applied for a year’s leave from the game’s local governing body.
She had informed her close relatives and loved ones that she had taken the decision to migrate primarily in order to look into the education of her children and to provide them with a brighter future.
Jayasinghe had added that she would not leave her motherland forever but had opted to leave these shores as her candid and forthright views for the upliftment of sports had fallen on deaf ears for decades.
South Asia’s one-time fastest sprinter Jayasinghe was known to both court controversy and ruffle feathers among authorities during the height of her career. The 49-year-old is the island nation’s sole Olympic medal-winning female athlete in its history, with the country’s other medal winner being the late Duncan White at the 1948 London Olympics.
She etched her name into local sporting folklore by initially clinching Bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, having finished the 200 m event in 11.04 seconds; this year, it will be quarter of a century since she created history for Sri Lanka.
Subsequently, Jayasinghe was awarded the Silver medal due to Gold medal winner American star sprinter Marion Jones being disqualified from the medal podium on charges of substance abuse.
The gifted athlete, who retired from the track 16 years ago, first came into prominence in the international sprint circuit by winning Silver at the Athens World Championships in Athletics in 1997.
She also continues to retain the record to date in the 100 m event at the 2002 Busan Asian Games, having ended the race with a timing of 11.15 seconds.
However, her stellar career on the track was somewhat blighted when she was imposed with a temporary ban for alleged substance abuse back in 1998.
After quitting the sport, Jayasinghe served as a Vice President of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) and as the Chairperson of the Trincomalee District Athletics Association.
In 2015, former President Maithripala Sirisena was instrumental in forming a foundation in her honour to mark the 15th anniversary of her Olympic medal-winning exploits.
However, Jayasinghe publicly denounced it later, saying that she had never received the desired support from the country’s sports and political authorities towards its effective maintenance.
Besides Jayasinghe, another prominent sprint star produced by Sri Lanka, Damayanthi Darsha, also migrated to Australia a few years ago and is currently domiciled there.
Thus far, several prominent current and past athletes who had brought honour to the country via their sterling feats in the track and field firmament continue to reside outside local shores.
Among them are Yupun Abeykoon, Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Sriyantha Dissanayake, Pradeepa Herath, Rohitha Pushpakumara, Manjula Kumara Wijesekara, Damith de Silva, and Anuradha Indrajith Cooray.