12.8.2008
Asoka Gunathilaka reporting from Beijing
Weight
lifter Chinthana Vidanage gave life to a rather dejected
Sri Lanka team who had suffered three defeats in two days
as he won the first place in Group C of the 69 Kg weight
category at the Weight Lifting Championship of the Beijing
Olympics yesterday.
Vidanage,
only the third lifter to an Olympics from Sri Lanka recorded
the historic feat when he lifted an aggregate weight of
293 kgs.
Since
neither S. M. Silva at the Los Angeles (1984) nor Asela
Vijewickrama at Barcelona could win their respective Group
stages, Vidanage’s feat will go down in history
as the highest mark so far achieved by a Sri Lankan at
an Olympics.
The
Group A and B competitions will take place today and the
best lifters (for medals), will be adjudged according
to the aggregate of weights lifted.
Vidanage
lifted a weight of 128 kgs in his third attempt in the
snatch and lifted a weight of 162 kgs in the clean and
jerk in his second attempt at the Beijing University Indoor
Stadium yesterday.
Canada’s
Luner Granier (293kgs) and Brazil’s Velison Silva
(290 kgs) were placed second and third in yesterday’s
competition.
Kamal
Bahadur Adikari of Nepal who was the only other weight
lifter in that category from South Asia lifted a weight
of 268 kgs to be placed sixth in Group ‘C’.
Adikari who won the gold medal at the 10th South Asian
Games held in Colombo has bettered his personal best.
Vidanage,
who was dreaming of the Olympics for two years although
intended to finish among the best ten lifters said that
there could be a difference if fortune favours him.
"I
trained only for a month. Kisal Hayan of Pakistan is training
me. He is sending me the training scheduled through email.
My first coach at Polonnaruwa was Kumudu Kumara. But the
national coach of the Ministry of Sports R. B. Wickramasinghe
has come here," said Vidanage.
"I
didn’t get the required power to the upper part
of the body. I thought I would get injured and gave it
up half way," said Vidanage when asked why he gave
up the event in the clean and jerk event.
Chinthana
Vidanage, who studied at Sevamuktha Kandaura Vidyalaya
and later at Central College Polonnaruwa entered the Olympic
competition on a wild card. It was a notable feat by the
wildcard entrant as he beat formidable lifters from Canada,
Brazil and New Zealand.
Thirty
weight lifters are taking part in the competition in the
69kg category and and Guseng Sang of China who lifted
a weight of 347.5 kgs to win the Gold at the Athens event
is not taking part this time.
Courtesy
- The Island