Experienced business administrator Bimal Wijayasinghe yesterday (12) won the election to the top post of Sri Lanka Athletics.
This was when he got the better of his rival candidate and former athlete and head of (SLA) Sunil Gunawatdana by 61 votes to 38.
Thus Wijayasinghe won by an additional 23 votes.
Wijayasinghe, a first-time entrant to the local athletics administration thus takes over from previous president Retired General Palitha Fernando who could not contest after having served an eight-year tenure as per the new amendments incorporated to the Sports Law.
A total of 36 member associations had been entitled to exercise their franchise with 99 votes being in play for the post of President.
According to athletics analysts the eleventh hour crossover of veteran administrator Sunil Jayaweera from the Gunawardana camp to the faction led by Wijayasinghe had been decisive in turning the election in favour of the latter.
Jayaweera himself a past president of the governing body had switched allegiance to the group led by the new head of the association after being disgruntled with Gunasardana’s policies to uplift local athletics.
The team fielded by the former Anandian Wijayasinghe also swept all key posts at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which saw an elected body being constituted after a lapse of seven months.
Noted athletics statistics and data analyst Madhawa Senarath was elected as the new Secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics.
He got the better of Dr. Dhammika Senanayake by 64 votes to 35.
The newly-elected SLA administration will be tasked with streamlining the training and requisite athletics programme for SL athletes targeting two of the showpiece events looming on the horizon – the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and the 2026 Aichi, Nagoya Asian Games in September.
The SLA AGM took an unusually long time to conclude as the meeting which commenced at around 10 a.m. only concluded at 4 p.m. which prompted a horde of reporters to leave the Sports Ministry premises prematurely due to commitments elsewhere.
The five+member election committee for the SLA AGM was helmed by retired Court of Appeal Justice Lalith Jayasuriya.
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