On the Run From Monkey Business in Sri Lanka

An interesting little political spat is grabbing the headlines in Sri Lanka, all of which would be of no interest whatsoever except that it involves a world-class athlete.

Sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe, 20, who won the silver medal in the women’s 200 meters at the World Championships in Athens in August, is the focus of a fight between government ministers and opposition spokesmen.

Jayasinghe has accused senior sports officials of sexual harassment and has said she fears for her life.

That led the opposition party to demand--and receive--a 30-minute parliamentary debate on the matter, during which one government minister said:

“Do not make this silly and naive yet talented athlete into the dancing monkey of the [opposition] circle.”

It’s not every day you see quotes like that.

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Trivia time: The last-place finisher in the 50th Daytona 500 in February will earn more than the combined total of the 59 drivers who drove in the inaugural race in 1959. Who won the first 500 and how much did he earn?

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Not revved up: Juan Fangio II provided a refreshingly honest answer while explaining why he suddenly retired last weekend from Dan Gurney’s Indy car team.

“Regardless of what my passion says, and despite what I command my mind to do, I’m no longer able to give my whole being to this sport,” Fangio, 41, said.

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Making a splash: Bank One Ballpark, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ $353-million stadium under construction, will have a retractable roof, air conditioning, a grass field and a swimming pool on a pavilion above right field.

The latter already has caught the eye of Diamondback catcher Jorge Fabregas.

“They didn’t give me the key to the pool,” he said, “but they told me I could knock ‘em out there.”

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Into low gear: NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, who underwent a minor operation this week to remove a polyp from his vocal cords, wondered if the surgery could alter his voice.

“I asked if they could deepen it a bit, but they said no,” Gordon said.

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Interplanetary wordplay: Conflicts between team owners and sports officials take on an extra dimension in Spain.

Take the case of Jesus Gil, 64, the outspoken president of the Atletico Madrid soccer team. In his latest blast in an ongoing feud with Spanish soccer federation officials, Gil called them “hooligans, thieves and cowards.”

Having already banned Gil for 14 months, the officials were unperturbed.

“Gil can continue to carry out his functions on Mars, Saturn or Uranus, if he so pleases,” they said.

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Trivia answer: Lee Petty earned $11,000 for finishing first.

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And finally: St. Louis Ram Coach Dick Vermeil, after tailback Lawrence Phillips had skipped a team meeting and was a no-show for practice Wednesday--and was waived Thursday:

“Some guys have a way of creating their own problems.”