Eleven-year-old Thilanka Imesh Kumara of Christ Church, Matale was one of the few athletes to win more than three medals at the Sir John Tarbert Junior Athletic Championship which ended at Wennappuwa on Sunday.

When the curtain came down on the three day event, he had two golds and two silvers and had erased a meet record which had been established even before he was born. Despite winning the hearts of thousands of admirers around the Albert F. Peiris Stadium, his coach K. Srikanthi believes that the athlete had been denied a gold and a new meet record due to inaccurate judging, a charge the Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association dismissed.

"He was clearly the winner in the Under-12 Boys’ 80 meters. We were jubilant when he finished first. But to our surprise, the judges awarded first place to another athlete who finished behind Kumara. We brought the matter to the notice of the officials but they did not reverse their decision. We showed them the video footage but our attempts were in vain," said Srikanthi, a PTI attached to Christ Church, Matale.

SLSAA secretary Anil Weerasinghe stood by the judges saying that they had not erred in judging the winners. He said that no video footage could be trusted unless it had been taken exactly in line with the finishing line.

However, another official said that the level of competition and the high turn out had made judging and conducting of the event an extremely difficult task. He said employing of photo finish cameras would solve half of the problem. "The association employed experienced judges and if one cannot agree with their decision, then the best way to convince them is by installing photo finish cameras," he said.

Although the athlete had to be contended with two golds and two silvers, Imesh Kumara had reasons to be happy as he emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the junior athletic arena.

On the track he stands taller and more mature than his counterparts; an advantage he has when he competes. Kumara, who passed his fifth year scholarship examination last year, said that he wants to do well in both athletics and studies.

Kumara cleared a distance of 5.09 meters in the Under-12 Boys’ long jump to establish a new meet record on the first day of the meet and erased the record set in 1994 by Ashan Randika (4.97) of Joseph Vas College Wennappuwa.