Sri Lanka sign China deal to train athletes

China will help train Sri Lankan athletes for international meets following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the heads of the two National Olympic Committees on the sidelines of the 18th Asian Games on Thursday.

Suresh Subramaniam, president of the NOC of Sri Lanka, and his Chinese counterpart Gou Zhongwen signed the historic MOU which will help facilitate the development of local athletes to the next level.

“China has agreed to help train our athletes in selected sports, not only those which are part of the Summer Olympics, but also in sports which are in the Winter Games,” said Subramaniam. “This is an unprecedented step of support from China. They will not only train our athletes but also coach our coaches.

It is a broad and open-ended agreement and we can rely on their help for anything. We have their full backing,” Subramaniam added.

“We ask Sri Lanka to send their athletes to China and train with our athletes for a long period. We will also train coaches from Sri Lanka and help develop Sri Lanka sports,” Gou said.

Sri Lanka is also likely to send athletes in skiing and figure skating for training to China according to Maxwell de Silva,secretary general of the NOC of Sri Lanka.