Susanthika Jayasinghe, the Asian Black Mare
Turning 49 years today, Susanthika Jayasinghe still remains the only female sprinter from Asia to win an Olympic medal
Mountain Goats are known to climb unimaginable heights and "Susie" didn't just run against the best athletes in the world but finished alongside with them, with two World Championship medals and an Olympic Silver to her name, coincidentally being the only Asian Sprinter to achieve this both!
To further clarify how significant her achievements are, she is the first Asian irrespective of gender to win an Olympic medal in the Sprinting events (100m, 200m, 400m) where she won the Bronze medal in 2000 (which was later upgraded to Silver following the doping scandal of Marion Jones). Her timing of 22.28 seconds still remains a South Asian record, not just in Sri Lanka.
If that's not enough, she's won a Silver and Bronze medals 10 years apart in 1997 and 2007 at the World Athletics Championship, which by default makes her the only Asian Sprinter to win medals in both the World Champs and Olympics. There are many combination of achievements to mention as a South Asian and Sri Lankan but the 'Asian' part which makes her one of a kind is very underrated.
Long before, she started athletics in her schooldays at Uduwaka Junior School in her hometown and after moving to Athnawala Maha Vidyalaya, her running talent was noticed by Sri Lanka Army where she was convinced to join the Sri Lanka Army for training and while still in school, won medals at the South Asian Games and Asian Championship. During her colourful career with many of the major achievements listed above, she had a fair share of controversies during her career due to differing opinions in politics.
Following her retirement, she eventually contested in the general election in 2010 but despite losing the seat, took up sports administration in Sri Lanka Athletics and is currently a mentor for Sri Lanka Women's Cricket. Fondly known as the "Asian Black Mare", it feels like she deserves to be upgraded on the analogy as she's indeed the GOAT among Asian Sprinters.
Here's to wishing Susanthika Jayasinghe on her 49th birthday today!