Indians generally don’t seem too interested in athletics, but with the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi next year that may initiate awareness, acceptance and change.
Sri Lankans on the other hand have long produced the occasional sprinter and hurdler.
Who could not be aware of the Tamil separatist movement in Sri Lanka, but I wonder if the island’s sprinterswere Tamils or of the same group as the majority who live predominantly in the Indian subcontinent?
India had a pretty good 400m / 400 H in PT Usha in the mid 1980s, a good athlete and nice lady.
Sri Lanka has had success in the women’s 200m (a medal in Sydney Olympics) and there was an Australian woman who won a medal in the 100m and in both relays at the 98 Comm Games in Kuala Lumpur. She was Sri Lankan and moved to Australia. She was the only Aussie who had Cathy Freeman’s number, but she was the only one who didn’t realise that and go on with the job. Never came close to fulfilling her physical potential as an athlete IMO. Can’t even think of her name now.