After returning to the Island with an addition to his medal collection, ThePapare.com was able to catch up with Sri Lankan Power lifter, Ransilu Jayathilake for a heart to heart on his achievement and the sport in Sri Lanka.
Ransilu returned to the Island last week from Singapore after participating at the Singapore open powerlifting championship which is a championship where the best upcoming power lifters are invited to compete taking into consideration their past performances. The championship saw the participation of countries like USA, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Chinese Taipei. More than 120 athletes participated in the Men’s and Women’s categories.
Jayathilake was able to win Gold in the 120Kg weight Category which was also the 3rd highest Dead Lift of the Competition. He Lifted squats of 245kgs, Bench press 105kgs, deadlift 272.5kgs with a total of 622.5kgs. “This is my 19th international medal and after being banned for 2 years due to the doping test, this was my 1st international event and I managed to grab the gold. So, I believe that this was a great comeback after being so down mentally and training for 2 years without competing” said the lifter commenting on his achievement. He also added that “this is an achievement which proves my life slogan “every man fails but, champions simply get back and starts again” which most and many of us could relate to on a daily basis regardless of whether we ‘lift’ or simply ‘live’.
Ransilu Jayathilake started his my sporting career at the age of 7 as a weightlifter. With a background of the sport from an early age as his father, mentor and later coach; Mothilal Jayathilake was a weightlifter the environment naturally made him take up the sport, “but my favourite sport was rugby, after playing at the school under 15 level I broke my finger. Since it was disturbance for my weightlifting I had to give up rugby” said Jayathilake.
Breaking records started at a young age for this rugby enthusiast who took up weightlifting, the 1st of which came at the age of 14 where he broke the then Sri Lankan record. “I held the Asian powerlifting junior record from 2004 till it was broken in 2012” said Ransilu.
He has also represented Sri Lanka at 3 South Asian Games, an Asian games, a Youth Commonwealth and 1 Commonwealth games. “I am the 1st to win a medal at the Commonwealth Youth games” said Ransilu with a smile full pride. A promising youngster from the city in the hills, Ransilu received his primary and secondary education from Kingswood College Kandy.
“In 2011 I got positive due to a stimulant which was in an energy drink and received a banned of 2 years. And my come back to powerlifting was in 2013 at the National Powerlifting championships where I broke 3 Sri Lankan records” commented Jayathilake on the return from his rough patch in his career. Also a Sri Lankan schools coloursman in Athletics, “I played rugby at mercantile level and university level” continuing his passion towards the sport of Rugby.
Speaking on his goals for the future of his career he said, “My 1st target is to win at the upcoming Commonwealth powerlifting championships which will be in December 2014 in Australia and to eventually reach my dream lift of 700kgs”.
“Powerlifting was a high riding sport in Sri Lanka in the past decade but after the death of Mr. Siridasa Liyanage who was the back bone of powerlifting, the sport was neglected. Powerlifting is a sport which is recognized all over the world, even more than weightlifting” he said when speaking about the sport in terms of Sri Lanka. “We have won World and Asian level medals but, unfortunately none of the medals were appreciated ” he also added. Most of the power lifters in recent times have come from the armed forces; the Army, Navy and Air force.
“If they get into proper training with super nutrition I am sure we have the potential to do wonders at the international level. It’s so sad to see the authorities not helping the sports which wins medals though they spend millions on sports which we get massacred at the international level”.
“I have been to many countries and seen many training facilities, what I see is that what we lack is not the equipment or training facilities but the science and proper technology. Also the involvement of educated coaches and suitable administration on the sport” added the lifter commenting on the infrastructure in the country.
On an ending note Ransilu said “I would like to thank ThePapare.com for taking interest in the sport which is rare and nice to see for a change where most of the media just consider rugby and cricket as Sri Lankan sports. He thanked his parents, sister and his wife along with all his well-wishers for their blessings and wishes, “it makes me stronger than any supplement and I am much grateful to all who was with me during my ups and downs”.
He also added “I take this opportunity to invite all young lifters who go to the gym to get involved in powerlifting. It’s always good to be in a competition than just going to a gym and working out” inviting the youth to take up the once popular sport in the country.
Thepapre.com would like to congratulate Ransilu Jayathilake for his achievement and would like to wish him all the very best at bringing glory to Sri Lanka in the sport of Powerlifting.
