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VALE -Dr. Nagalingam Ediweerasingham
Source:TIMES OF SRI LANKA INTERNATIONAL 365
Dr. Nagalingam Ediweerasingham, one of the greatest sportsmen born in Sri Lanka and who won Sri Lanka’s first gold medal in the Asian Games, passed away in the United States of America. Dr. Edirweerasingham, who was 90 years old, held the Sri Lankan high jump record for nearly four decades since 1953. He won the gold medal at the 3rd 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 this country and launched a number of programs for the development of athletics, especially in the North and Eastern Provinces. He contributed immensely to the international achievements of Manjula Kumara, who was another high jumping champion born in this country, and was constantly associated with the Sri Lanka Athletics Institute until his death.
Dr. Ediweerasingham, who represented Sri Lanka in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
He is an alumnus of Jaffna Central College and St. Joseph’s College, Colombo.
