Eashan dazzled by Doha’s freely available training facilities

Following a stellar junior career where he won the Asian Junior Silver Medal in the 100m, Himasha Eashan has been struggling to make a name for himself in the Asian arena.

Eashan had his moments, such as winning the South Asian Games 100m Gold Medal with a new record in 2016, but he has been struggling to convert that success to Asian standards. The 23-year-old sprinter has previously represented Sri Lanka in two Asian Championships – 2015 and 2017 – bowing out from the semi-finals on both occasions after disappointing runs.

But something has changed in 2019. After two forgettable years, Eashan changed his training pattern and along with coach Chaminda Perera he was determined to break barriers. In the very first race he ran in 2019 the clock stopped at an amazing 10.11 seconds and stunned the spectators.

But favourable wind conditions meant the record was not credited to his name.

However, he responded with 10.12 seconds within two hours in the semi-finals, but again the wind measurement was just above the legal limit, which frustrated Eashan.

The final was worked off the following day, by which time Eashan was not as pumped up as he was in the heats or semi-finals, but he still clocked 10.22 seconds to win and shatter his own Sri Lanka and South Asian record of 10.26 seconds set in 2016.

Eashan and his coach Perera felt that they could achieve something at the Asian Championship, but travelling two days prior to the Championship would not help them, so they decided to leave early, despite being informed the grounds won’t be available for training.And when they arrived on the 13th, they were blown away to find the facilities are freely available in Doha.“There are so many facilities. We were a bit worried when we came to this ground as we did not have permission to train here, but anyone can train free at this venue. There’s no security check and nobody asked who we were. This is truly free for any athlete to train, whether track or field.

Also, we don’t have to go and request for equipment we require, such as block starts, which are readily available for anyone to use. The gym is free too and doesn’t need anybody’s permission to use, which has never been the case in Sri Lanka,” enthused Eashan.

Eashan is an experienced campaigner at age 23, having already participated in two unsuccessful campaigns earlier in the Asian Championship, and is determined to succeed this time.“I failed at the last two Asian Championships, as I got knocked out in the semi-finals. That’s why I came here early determined to finish on the podium, and I believe I have the ability to do so this time.

I’m hoping for a big change this time around. That’s why we even missed the traditional Avurudu (New Year) celebrations and decided to come here instead,” said Eashan.“Special thanks should go to Kumudu Fonseka for facilitating this training for us throughout our stay in Doha,” added Eashan.