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| medaltemplates-title = | module3 = | updated = 12 October 2015 }} Susanthika Jayasinghe ((シンハラ語:සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ); Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ) (born December 17, 1975) is Sri Lankan sprint athlete specializing in the 100 and 200 metres. She is the winner of Olympic silver-medal for 100m event in 2000 summer Olympic. Known as Asian Black Mare, Jayasinghe is known as the best athlete to ever represent Sri Lanka in international level. Jayasinghe was born in Uduwaka, Sri Lanka. Brought up in a poor family in a small village 60 kilometres north of Colombo, where running spikes cost more than the average month's wage, she had no access to proper sports equipment or coaches. Yet in spite of these underprivileged conditions she managed to progress to a standard where she could claim medals at both the Summer Olympics and IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Jayasinghe is the first and only Asian to win an Olympic or world championship medal in any of 100 m, 200 m or 400 m sprint events. As news of Susanthika Jayasinghe's World Championship achievement spread, almost all the people living in Atnawala village, 60 km from Colombo, streamed in to Jayasinghes' tiny home to congratulate them on their daughter's remarkable feat. ==Career== After her performance in the 200 m race at the 1997 World Championships she travelled to the United States of America to train. Along with Dhamyanthi Dharsha and Sugath Tillakaratne her athletics performances have lifted Sri Lanka to the international competitive level. In 2000 she became the nation's first Olympic medalist since 1948, when she finished behind Marion Jones and Pauline Davis-Thompson in the Women's 200 meters. On October 5, 2007 Marion Jones admitted to having been taking performance-enhancing drugs prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics, and Jayasinghe was later awarded the silver medal.〔(ESPN, Dec. 9, 2009: "IOC reallocates Jones' medals" )〕 Jayasinghe was suspended from competition in April 1998 for failing a drug test that she claimed was rigged due to her political beliefs and a falling out with a Sports Ministry official. She was later cleared of the offense. After returning home with her Olympic medal she was attacked by a male athlete because, she believed, she had been supporting former government members in an election campaign. With no support from her national athletics association she had to go heavily into debt to even reach the 2000 Olympics but after her medal achievement there she was supported by a national fundraising drive in her homeland. In spite of that she left her home country to live in Los Angeles. She currently lives, however, in Sri Lanka. She told some of her story during a press conference for the women's 200 m medalists at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she was asked if her country would be proud of her. In a quiet voice, she said:
She then went on to speak of officials coming to her house, giving her a drug test and refusing to seal the urine specimen with her watching. She refused to sign the release. Later they told her she had tested positive for nandrolone. By the time she was cleared, she was no longer welcome by her country's sporting establishment.〔Adrian Wojnarowski: ''(A bit of foolishness to ease the tension )'', Friday, September 29, 2000〕 She visited Los Angeles to train with Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (Asian Games Gold Medalist in high jump in 1958, and two time Olympian in high jump – in 1952 and 1956). Shortly thereafter, she won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in Jordan and a bronze medal in the 200 m race at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. It was her first World Championship medal in 10 years. On 13 August 2007 she was ranked by the IAAF as 18th in the World for the 100 m sprint and 20th in the World for the 200 m sprint. On February 5, 2009, Jayasinghe announced her retirement from sports〔(Sinhale Hot News: "Susanthika Jayasinghe announced her retirement" )〕 in order to focus on becoming a mother.〔(Athletic Assn. of Sri Lanka: "Latest Sri Lankan Athletics News" ) “It has been a long felt dream which would finally become a reality this year. I want to get that great feeling of becoming a mother, devote some time for my child and then look at how I am going to give something back to athletics.”〕 On March 31, 2009, she gave birth to a baby boy.〔(LankanNewspapers.com: "News Image 41703 – Susanthika Jayasinghe gives birth to a son" )〕 In November 2010 she announced her plan to return to competition. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Susanthika Jayasinghe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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