December 10, 2009: The International Olympic Committee, which met in Switzerland yesterday, has decided to award the Silver Medal for the Women's 200 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe.
The meeting was held to decide on the medals which the American star athlete Marion Jones would lose. She would lose the medals she won for the 200 metres and long jump events at the year 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.Meanwhile, Susanthika Jayasinghe said that after almost ten years, the sparkle of winning the Olympic medal has lost its lustre.
“When I heard about the drug abuse case with regard to Marion Jones, I knew that innocent athletes like us are the ones who would suffer from it.
“If this issue was discovered on the 28th of September 2000 itself, the joy would have been much more. With the passage of time, everything has lost its value. It's been ten years now.
“It won't be the same feeling as winning a medal and bringing it back to the country. The only thing is that I will be getting that medal.
“Even when she was running past me that day, I knew that that speed would be impossible for a human being. So I came to the conclusion that there should be some mystery behind it.
“However I won a Bronze Medal that day. Now it had become a Silver Medal. But it's the same feeling for me because I was able to do something for my country having come from a rural village,” said our own sprint queen.