Coach Lakshman, ‘Marathon Karu’ served till the end

By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Former Sri Lanka Olympic marathon runner K.A. Karunaratna and National Athletics Coach Lakshman de Alwis with Technical Officers Colonel P.S.S.Udayadeera, R.A Siripala and Sisira Wanigasekara were among those who were killed in last Sunday’s bomb explosion in Weliweriya which also took the life of Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.

The LTTE broke its pledge not to target any sport’s event. They, (LTTE), shortly before the 2006 South Asian Games held in Colombo assured it wouldn’t target the SAG Games or any other sport’s activity. This pledge was given by LTTE Sport’s Director, K.Papa who had been in charge of the group’s sport’s division.

Sri Lanka sports suffered a severe blow with the loss of these illustrious sportsmen in this bomb blast. National Athletics Coach Lakshman de Alwis was the director of the Weliweriya marathon event while former national marathon medallist K.A Karunaratna was the chief organiser of this event. Karunaratna, popularly known as “Marathon Karu,” had an idea to hold a new marathon to give more opportunities to athletes. His vision was to popularise this event and produce talented athletes for the marathon event. This marathon at Weliweriya had the blessings of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and top officials of the AAA came to support this event.

National Athletics Coach Lakshman de Alwis was very popular among the athletes and produced many talented athletes at national level. Lakshman himself was a talented sprinter in the 1950s. He was a product of Moratuwa MV and held the national records in the 100m and 200m events. In 1962 Lakshman took part at the Asian Games in Jakartha and entered the semi-finals in the 200m, with a timing of 22.4 seconds which was the new Sri Lankan record. In 1968, Lakshman was appointed a sport’s officer and went on to become a sport’s director. After he took over as national coach in 1970, that period saw the emergence of the greats like S.L.B Rosa, Sunil Gunawardena , and K.G Badra Gunawardana who performed well under his guidance. He was the national coach of Brunei and during that period the Brunei women’s 4x400 relay team won a silver medal at the East Asian Games.

Lakshman had a chance to follow a sports diploma in Lipsig Sports University in Germany and very few officials in Sri Lanka got this rare opportunity. The 69-year-old experienced coach was once again appointed as national coach and accompanied the national teams on several overseas tours. He was recently appointed coordinating secretary to the non-cabinet Sport Minster, Bandula Basnayaka. Lakshman was a very clever and dedicated coach and he was very kind to all athletes. He was very busy on the field and his death was a big loss said president of the AAA Major General Palitha Fernando.

The funeral of veteran coach Lakshman de Alwis was held yesterday at the Godigamuwa General Cemetery Maharagama.

Army Warrant Officer K.A Karunaratna won gold medals at the SAF marathon in 1991 in Colombo and in 1993 in Bangladesh. He secured the fourth place at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing. He also won the Singapore open Marathon. Karu participated in the Olympic marathon at the 1988 Soul Olympics and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He was the captain of the Sri Lanka team to the Barcelona Olympics. In addition he also ran in the marathons in the 1993 Daka South Asian Championships, 1991 London, 1989 Rome, and the 1995 Madras South Asian Championships. Karu was a selector of the Sri Lanka Athletic Association and was recently appointed as president of CT&FC. Karu has been honoured on several occasions at national and international level. Finally, the prestigious title of “Deshabandu” was bestowed on him for his services to the sport. After his tragic and untimely demise K.A.Karunaratna was promoted posthumously to the rank of Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Army said Athletic Chief, Major General Palitha Fernando.

Karu was born to a poor family in Kandaliyaddapaluwa, Ragama but fought against tremendous odds to reach fame and glory. Speaking at the press briefing to organise the Weliweriya marathon Karu said: “I was born to a poor family and faced severe hardship to succeed in athletics. But when I was training for the marathon I received tremendous support from the sports loving people who helped me all the way. That is why I decided to do something for athletics.”

The Sri Lanka Army will be making all arrangements for Karu’s funeral which will take place today at Kandaliyaddapaluwa cemetery, Ragama.