Susanthika Jayasinghe

Deshabandu

Susanthika Jayasinghe

Jayasinghe at the 2007 World Championships
Personal information
Native name	සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ
Nickname	Asian black Mare
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Born	(1975-12-17) December 17, 1975 (age 48) Uduwaka, Sri Lanka
Occupation	Sprinter
Years active	1994–2009
Sport
Country	Sri Lanka
Sport	Track and field
Event	Sprint
International level	1994
Retired	5 February 2009
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2000 Sydney
Personal best(s)	100 m: 11.04[1] September 9, 2000 (Yokohama, Japan) 200 m: 22.28 September 28, 2000 (Sydney, Australia)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Sri Lanka Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 1 0 World Championships 0 1 1 Continental Cup 0 1 1 Asian Games 1 2 1 Asian Championships 6 1 0 Lusophony Games 2 0 0 South Asian Games 4 0 0 Total 9 6 3 Event 1st 2nd 3rd 100 m 4 3 0 200 m 4 3 3 4x100 m relay 1 0 0 Olympic Games 2000 Sydney 200m World Championships 1997 Athens 200 m 2007 Osaka 200 m Continental Cup 2002 Madrid 100 m 2002 Madrid 200 m Asian Games 2002 Busan 100 m 1994 Hiroshima 200 m 2006 Doha 100 m 2006 Doha 200 m Asian Championships 1995 Jakarta 200 m 2000 Jakarta 4 × 100 m 2002 Colombo 100 m 2002 Colombo 200 m 2007 Amman 100 m 2007 Amman 200 m 1995 Jakarta 100 m Lusophony Games 2006 Macao 100 m 2006 Macao 200 m South Asian Games 1995 Chennai 100 m 1995 Chennai 200 m 2004 Islamabad 200 m 2006 Colombo 200 m
Updated on 7 September 2021

Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe^[2] (Sinhala: සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres.^[3][4] She won the Olympic silver medal for the 200m event in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the second Sri Lankan to win an Olympic medal after Duncan White and the first Asian woman to win an Olympic or World Championship medal in a sprint event.^[5] She is also the only Asian athlete to have claimed an Olympic medal in sprint events. She is also the first and only Sri Lankan to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Her silver medal achievement at the 2000 Sydney Olympics also stood as the only Olympic medal for a South Asian in athletics event for 21 years before Neeraj Chopra's gold medal achievement at the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[6] She is fondly nicknamed as the Asian Black Mare.^[7] She has represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1996, 2000 and 2008. She is considered one of the most decorated sprinters in Sri Lanka. However, she is also a deemed as a controversial figure in Sri Lanka.

She became a victim of politics during the peak of her career as many politicians and sports officials attempted to take credit for her medal achievements despite not supporting her prior to competing at the events.^[8] She was embroiled in political controversies including a series of false doping allegations, standoff with politicians, seven year old murder trials against her former spouse and sexual harassment.^[9] She was also sidelined for major part of her career due to injury concerns and also endured a troubled marriage life.^[10]