K Jayamani
IHFS EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR SPORTWOMAN – ATHLETICS
Jayamani during her student days thrived in running and she kept on improving in her strides. At the age of 19 she made her appearance at the National level when she participated at the Singapore Open. That was her beginning and a learning experience for something bigger to happen in her sporting career.
At the 1973 SEAP Games at the National Stadium, she was one the thousands of spectators watching Singapore team performing well and she wished she was one among them. That determination kept her going and with her coach Maurice Nicholas, guiding her way, she trained religiously and achieved her goal being among the winners on the podium to do the honour for Singapore. Honour she did numeous times and brought glory of medals to Singapore.
At the SEAP Games in KL in 1977, she won her first two gold medals in her 1500m 4:50.7 and 3000m 10:16.7. She was crowned the Sportswoman of the Year in 1977.
Her prowess in her pet events of 1500m and 3000m proved her stamina intact in the 1979 SEA Games at Jakarta and she repeated her winning streak in two more golds (1500m in 4:37.8)- and 3000m in 10:20.6.
Again she was honoured as the Sportswoman of the Year in 1981.
In 1982 Jayamani set new National records for both her favourite runs in 1500m (4:31.2) and 3000m (9:56.6) and earned her nickname as Queen of the Track. The record which was set in 1982 still remains unchallanged.
At the 1983 SEA Games Jayamani’s dream of making a hattrick in the 1500m and 3000m were shattered and only disappoinment greeted her. Something went wrong and she was completely devasted not knowing what hit her.
But this disappointment made her stronger instead of lamenting over it. She resolved to forge ahead to make up for her losses in her two earlier races. She had an opportunity to participate in the newly introduced SEA Games marathon.
With all her might and to prove to all that she was still a force to be recon with, she ran the marathon like there’s not going to be tomorrow. It was her third marathon run in seven years and she didn’t know what to expect.
But her sheer determination carried the day and won the marathon gold medal in 3:02.46, to everyone’s amazement . She even surprised the tournamnet favourites – Thai runner Yupin Lohachart ((3:04.23) and Myanmar’s Mar Mar Min (3:11.01).
She recalls, “I was selected to run the marathon as a form of support. It was the first time it featured in the Games. I never had expectations for it.” “I told myself I just had to do it (win the marathon),” she recalls.
She has proven to the world of the proverbial saying, “if there’s a will, there will be a way” to achieve one’s goal.
Jayamani puts it, “Running a race from start to finish, a lot of changes can happen. Life is like that too. Nothing is perfect but you can always find out what has gone wrong and fix the imperfections.”
How true!
Kandasamy Jayamani – 7 medals – 5 Gold 2 Bronze
Gold Women 1500m 4:50.7 – 1977 Kuala Lumpur
Gold Women 3000m 10:16.7 – 1977 Kuala Lumpur
Gold Women 1500m 4:37.8 – 1979 Jakarta
Gold Women 3000m 10:20.6 – 1979 Jakarta
Gold Women Marathon 3:02.46 – 1983 Singapore
Bronze Women 800m 2:14.9 – 1977 Kuala Lumpur