Nagalingham
Ediriweerasingham
Nagalingam Ediweerasingham, one of the greatest track and field athletes in Sri Lanka who won the country’s first gold medal in the Asian Games, passed away in the United States of America.
He was 90 years old and held the Sri Lankan high jump record for nearly four decades from 1953.
He won the gold medal at the Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan in 1958 by setting a new Asian Games record of 2.03 meters and won the silver medal in the same event in 1962. Later, he made a great contribution to the development of athletics in the country and launched a number of programs for the development of athletics, especially in the North and Eastern Provinces.
Ediriweerasingham contributed immensely to the international achievements of Manjula Kumara, who was another high jumping champion and was constantly associated with Sri Lanka Athletics. He also represented Sri Lanka in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and hailed from Jaffna Central High School and St. Joseph’s College, Colombo.
(DR)
