COLOMBO: As part of the Colombo Times Women’s Day theme of Celebrating Sri Lankan Women in Sports, Colombo Times had the pleasure of speaking to Milka Gehani de Silva, the 19 year old Sri Lankan artistic gymnast who represented Sri Lanka at the 2020 summer Olympics. She is the first Sri Lankan gymnast across all disciplines to qualify to the Olympics
Milka participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and at the 2019 World Championships.
She started winning titles in Gymnast at a very young age. She won her first junior national title at the age of 8. Speaking to Colombo Times on her inspiration and passion artistic gymnast, Milka explained “I’ve always been the different one, ever since I was young. When I was 7 years old, I had just found out about gymnastics through school. This was a sport I had never seen or heard about before, and as soon as I saw the opportunity to take it up, I signed myself up for it. A few hours into my first ever training session, I knew I had already fallen in love with it, and my dream ever since, was to one day be able to take part in the Olympics”
Milka has participated in many international events. When she was 13 years Milka competed at the 2016 Junior Commonwealth Championships in Namibia and finished 10th in the all-round final. Milka competed at the Asian Junior Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2017 and was placed 17th in the all-around. At the 2018 Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, she finished 14th all-around. She represented Sri Lanka at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she placed 28th all-around in qualifications.
Talking about the people who are her inspiration Milka said “I think my number one inspiration is God, and second would be my family and friends who have supported me since day one”
In May 2021, she was awarded one of the Asian continental berths to the 2020 Summer Olympics, as she was the highest ranked eligible athlete based on the results of the 2019 World Championships.
This marked Sri Lanka’s debut in gymnastics at the Olympic Games. Milka was also Sri Lanka’s flag bearer at the 2020 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations, becoming the country’s youngest ever flag bearer.
Milka share her most memorable achievements where she said “I would say there were two main unforgettable experiences. One was getting to hold up our flag during the opening ceremony. It was such a proud moment, not only for me, but for me to represent Sri Lanka and make Sri Lanka proud. The second was when they introduced me in the Ariake Arena, where my competition was held. We walked in, and walked onto the podium, lined up and the introduced every athlete. Knowing I was on stage and competing against athletes like Simone Biles, and Sunisa Lee, it was an unforgettable experience”.
Colombo Times also inquired as what Milka was studying now. “I studied Japanese(mainly) in my high school. And I graduated from high school. So after that I did Teikyo university entrance exam for Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Sports Medicine on last Sunday. And I’m waiting for the results”. said Milka.
Milka has achieved so much in a field that many may not choose in Sri Lanka especially due to the commitment and dedication the sport requires. She has chosen Artistic Gymnast and has passionately trained and made effort to ensure Sri Lankan representation at the Olympics in the chosen field. Colombo Times invited Milka to share her message to other young ladies who wish to take up sports as a profession/career. Milk shared encouraging words “I would like to tell all who are passionate about their field, if they want to achieve something big, they should stick to their dream from the bottom of their hearts. One should not only take your dreams as a challenge but also love it. Live in your dreams and put all the things on the line to fulfill it and believe in yourself!
We wish Milka all the very best for all her future endeavors. (RZ)
