Sri Lankan athletes, who returned after participating at the London Olympics, today charged that a officials had prevented their local coaches from joining them at the games, and this had affected their performance.

Mangala Samarakone who represented the country in the bair rifle shooting event said he had pleaded with the authorities to ensure his coach came to the games, but it was of no avail.

“I asked the authorities to allow either one of my coaches Brigadier K.W.Edmond or Pushpamali Ramanayake to join me but it was not allowed. I even explained to them the need for a coach while competing. During the event I badly felt the need for a coach,” he said.

Sri Lankan captain Niluka Karunaratne said during the pre-quarter finals, the advice of an experienced coach would have been of immense help.

“I had the assistance of a Polish coach and of my father. However when I was playing with the Indian I felt that I should have had an internationally experienced coach by my side,” he said.

According to Media reports 30 officials had accompanied the seven athletes to the Olympics.

by Deepa Adikari
Source: Daily Mirror( Sri Lanka)

Read more:  http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/21138-absence-of-coaches-hinders-better-show-in-london.html