Rupasinghe Arachchige Wimalasena Perera, participated in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico in the marathon event and was an excellent long distance runner during his time.
The city of Mexico where the marathon was held was 7,347 feet above sea level and the climatic conditions resulted in Wimalasena falling sick and being hospitalised for three weeks.
He was given 36 injections and yet, considering that he was sent for the Olympics with great expectations, Wimalasena participated in the marathon without heeding medical advice. He competed with 87 others and came in 51st place.
Born on May 30, 1945 he had his early education at Wedamulla Maha Vidyalaya, Kelaniya and secondary education at Sri Dharmaloka Maha Vidyalaya.
During schooldays he was popular as a football player. Before and after football practices it was a habit for him to run one mile.
Wimalasena, won the 1,500 metres at the Western Province Schools Sports Meet held in 1962 at the Royal College Grounds. In 1962, he came seventh in the marathon conducted by the Ceylon Track and Field Club as a 17-year-old schoolboy.
In 1963, at the Junior Athletics Championships he won the 1,500 metres event in four minutes 12.7s and created a junior schools athletics record.
In 1964, his entry form to participate in the trials for the Olympics in Rome for the marathon was rejected because Wimalasena was too young at that time.
In 1964, he left school and joined the Army which was a decisive turn in his life. He received training under Colonel P. D. Ramanayaka and became the Army champion defeating the National champion R. J. K. Karunananda, who participated in the 1964 Olympics.
In the same year, he participated in the 10,000 metres event at the National Championships and won it in 32.0 minutes. He was awarded the Governor’s Cup for this victory.
Wimalasena was successful in improving on the existing Ceylon marathon record of two hours and 33 minutes established by Linus Dias by returning a time of 2 hours 27 minutes and 17.8s at the trials for the Asian Games in 1966.
At the Asian Games he came seventh in the marathon. Although he participated in the Commonwealth Games in 1966, he had to retire from the event due to a shoulder injury.
In 1967, he set a new marathon record while improving on his earlier record by completing it in 2 hours 22 minutes and 5s. He was also able to win Silver Medals in the Open 3,000m and the 10,000m events in 1967 in Singapore.
Wimalasena who won the National Marathon Championship in 1969 came in fourth place the same year at the marathon event held in Hong Kong.
Wimalasena retired from athletics in 1973 after the Army Inter-Unit Athletics Meet and since then, he has been devoting his time and experience to coaching the younger generation.
(C.D)
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