The National Junior Athletes who made history clinching a record total of 11 medals at the Asian Junior Athletic Championship (AJAC) which was held in Gifu, Japan are set to receive financial funding until the 2024 Olympics.
This was announced at a function at the Sports Ministry auditorium, which was graced by Minister of Sport Faiszer Musthapha, President of Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) Maj. Gen Palitha Fernando and the medal winning junior athletes.
A brain child Hon Faiszer Musthapha, the funding program will equip the young athletes with a monthly grant of Rs. 75,000 per athlete till the 2024 Olympics while their coaches are set to receive Rs. 20,000 per month for the same period. This venture is made possible with corporates in the likes of Access Holdings, Fairway Holdings, Ceylinco Life, Softlogic Insurance and a donor who wished to remain anonymous coming together to create a fund that will support the young athletes and their coaches.
Women’s relay team members, Sachini Divyanjali and Romeshi Attidiya, Sprinter Amasha De Silva, middle distance runner Dilishi Kumarasinghe, Steeple chaser Parami Wasanthi, Quarter milers Aruna Darshana ,Pasindu Kodikara and the Ravishaka Indrajith and Pabasara Niku are the nine juniors who will receive the monthly allowance of Rs. 75, 000 for the next six years.
Speaking at the function, President of the AASL Maj. Gen Palitha Fernando expressed his delight in the initiation of this program,
‘For the first time in the history the medal winning athletes at the Asian Junior Athletic Championship are being handed a hefty sponsorship targeting the 2024 Olympics. A sponsorship of this sort which will continue for six more years has not been done in this country before. The young athletes who receive the sponsorships today, are presented with a huge challenge now. We have seen in the past athletes who have shown good performances in the junior age groups fading away after a few years, not even leaving a trace on what happened to these athletes. As an example, in 2012 when the Asian Junior Championship was held in Sri Lanka, we won 7 medals, unfortunately none of the medal winners are involved in athletics now and have given up the sport. These nine junior athletes are given an ideal platform to make sure they are well supported targeting the biggest sporting spectacle of the world’
Addressing the gathering, Minister Faiszer Musthapa who was responsible in initiating this funding program involving the private sector, explained why this decision was taken to facilitate the young athletes until the 2024 Olympics. “At the AJAC we won 11 medals. We identified that in order to facilitate the needs and wants of these athletes until 2024 we need the support of the private sector. After Duncan White we only have Sunathika Jayasinghe who managed to get on the Olympic podium, but with a program of this nature, supporting these youngsters, I believe we will be able to create more champions in the future”
Stressing on the importance of the support that the athletes receive, the Minister made an important request from the athletes “I sincerely request these youngsters to make sure that the money they receive from the funding program be only used towards the improvement and the betterment of their sporting capabilities. We as a country need to make sure that poverty is not a cause that blocks talented athletes from excelling in sports. We need to consider these young talented athletes as national treasures and need to make sure that we protect them”
 which was held in Gifu, Japan are set to receive financial funding until the 2024 Olympics.){kind=link}