Sri Lankans mourn death of high jump star

Dr.Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, one of the greatest sportsmen born in Sri Lanka and who won Sri Lanka’s first Gold Medal at the Asian Games, passed away in the United States of America (USA).
The late Ethirveerasingam, who was 89 years old, held the Sri Lankan high jump record for nearly four decades, since 1953.
He won the gold medal at the third Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1958 by setting a new Asian Games record of 2.03m 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 several programmes 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.
The late Ethirveerasingam also represented Sri Lanka in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. He is an alumnus of Jaffna Central High School and St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. 
(SP)