Athlete Nayomie does
Janashakthi proud

Sixteen-year-old Nayomie Gimhani, winner of the All Island Women’s Heptathlon Championship at the recently concluded Annual Relay Carnival, did her sponsor proud by being selected to represent Sri Lanka at the inaugural Asian Youth Games held in Singapore from June 29 to July 5. She is one of the small team of outstanding Sri Lankan athletes honoured with this recognition and competed in the 400 metres Hurdles event at the Games and in the 4 x 200 metres U-18 relay.

Nayomie Gimhani

Nayomie Gimhani who is sponsored by Janashakthi Insurance and established a new meet record for the Under 18, 400 meter hurdles event, winning the Best Women’s Hurdler award at the Junior Women’s Athletic Championship, which was organised by the Amateur Athletics Association of Sri Lanka. She is a student of Sumana Balika Vidyalaya, Ratnapura and has throughout her school career demonstrated her prowess as an outstanding hurdler, being placed 1st in all the athletic events in which she participated. Ishara Dayananda of Fergusan’s Girls’ School, Ratnapura, also sponsored by Janashakthi, was placed first runner-up at the All-Island Women’s Heptathlon Championship and was also placed first in the U-18, 100 meter Hurdles and second in the 100 and 200 metres sprint events at the Junior Nationals as well. She was adjudged the best Female Athlete at the National Sports Festival Games at the end of last year.
Five of the six girls sponsored by Janashakthi were placed in their individual events at the Junior National Championships. In addition to Nayomi Gimhani’s and Ishara Dayananda’s wins, Sashipraba Jayasinghe of St. Joseph’s Balika Vidyalaya, Kegalle, won the Best Athlete Award for Women under-20 and remains unbeaten over the past few years (100 and 200 metres) sprint events in her age group while T. Anusha and Amali Wijesinghe were placed in their individual events. T. Anusha of Sarvapragasa Ladies College, Vavuniya is an outstanding putt shot and discus thrower and Amali Wijesinghe also of St. Joseph’s Girls School, Kegalle an outstanding short distance hurdler and sprinter were also placed in their respective events.
The seventh young athlete, the youngest, 14-year-old Medani Wickramanayake of Sri Sumangala Balika Vidyalaya, Matale performed with outstanding success at the Junior Sir John Tarbett Athletic Meet recently concluded at Wennappuwa. She won both the U-14 100 and 200 metres sprint events in her age group.
Kushani Kularatne, a former schoolgirl record holder who is now employed by Janashakthi, was also placed first at the Junior Nationals in both the events she participated in the 800 metres and 1500 metres in the under- 23 age group category.
“Janashakthi is very proud of Nayomi Gimhani and other rural athletes who were handpicked by us in 2008 for their athletic talents. We are very pleased to have been given this opportunity to nurture and develop the abilities of such promising athletes and are confident that they will go on to represent Sri Lanka and win even more prestigious international medals on world platforms,” declared Janashakthi MD Prakash Schaffter.
Bertal Pinto-Jayawardene, General Manager – Finance & Planning of Janashakthi Insurance, who is the co-ordinator of the company’s rural sponsorship athletes initiative- corroborated this “Janashakthi’s aim in sponsoring these athletes is not just to bring recognition to them, their families and their schools, but also, at a much higher level, to bring honour to our country and to enable the Sri Lankan flag to fly proudly at International Level”
These young athletes have also demonstrated an outstanding commitment to their studies despite heavy training schedules. Shashipraba, Amali and Ishara have all successfully obtained 9As at their O/Level examinations. “These schoolgirls are examples to other schoolchildren of the need to maintain a balance between education and extracurricular activities, the development of this leading to balance and vibrant personalities, who will be of immense service to our motherland,” declared Pinto-Jayawardene.
Three athletics events have been held so far this year to date, namely the Annual Relay Carnival, the Junior Women’s Athletic Championship and the Junior Sir John Tarbet championship. The latter two events were concluded very recently.
Janashakthi’s current sponsorship of seven schoolgirl athletes from different parts of Sri Lanka is part of the company’s rural upliftment programme. In addition to this initiative, the company employs three very promising national level athletes and provides them with the resources to develop their athletic prowess through an incentive programme that rewards and encourages achievement.
General Manager Sales & Marketing of Janashakthi Insurance PLC, Ravi Liyanage said that “Janashakthi is best known for its association with cricket, having sponsored several Sri Lankan Test cricket series during the past few years. We have also extended our support to several other sports at national level such as hockey, squash, sailing and golf thus reiterating our commitment to the long term development of sports in Sri Lanka”.