Anuradha Cooray, 31, has already made the qualifying time for next year's Games, which will allow him to represent Sri Lanka in Delhi.

The Vale of Aylesbury athlete also wants to compete in the 2011 World Championships in Korea and then the London Olympics the following year.

"These are three fantastic Games and they are achieveable," said his coach, Nick Taylor.

Cooray, a national record-holder at the marathon and 10,000m in Sri Lanka, is looking forward to making his debut in the Commonwealth Games.
"It's a dream," said Cooray. "It's my life dream.

"I've been in the Olympic Games (in Athens) and the World Championships, but never the Commonwealth Games. I'm looking forward to it.
"After the World Championships in Helsinki (in 2005) I retired (to pursue a career), but last year I started again after watching the Beijing (Olympics) on television.

"After eight months' training, I have done well to qualify."

Cooray hopes to run a new personal best of 2hr 14mins in Delhi - two minutes faster than he has ever done before.

He had distinguished himself in the 2004 Athens Olympics when he finished 30th out of 113 with a time of 2hr 19mins.24secs.

Earlier in his career he had won the gold medal in the 2004 South Asian Games in Islamabad.

To recapture this sort of form he may need some financial backing as he works a 48-hour week and has not got as much time to devote to his training as he would like.

Anyone interested in sponsoring Cooray, however small, can contact Dean at The Bucks Herald on 01296 619766 or e-mail him here.