Rohan Handupurage Pradeep Kumara was born on March 10, 1975 and was educated at St. Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa.
He took to athletics while at school and came under the guidance of veteran Coach Sunil Gunawardena and soon he emerged as a top international athlete in the 400m event.
He had the distinction of representing the country at several international events and returned his career-best timing of 45.25s in the 400m event in 2000.
Kumara provided a glimpse of his talent and potential when he clocked 50.4s in the 400m event at the Public Schools Track and Field Meet in 1992.
In the following year he further improved his performance and returned a splendid time of 49.7s at the National Athletics Championships.
In 1996, Kumara once again stole the limelight when he clocked 48.6s at the National Championships and returned a time of 47.32s at the Malaysia National Championships in 1997.
Kumara continued his dominance at domestic level and produced another fine performance of 46.51s at the National Sports Festival in 1998.
He continued to work hard in search of excellence and was rewarded when he bagged his first international Gold Medal at the 1999 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Kathmandu, Nepal.
He then had the honour of winning three Gold Medals at the 2004 SAF Games in Islamabad, Pakistan when he came first in the 400m, 200m and 400X4m relay event.
He brought more honour to the country when he clinched the Gold Medal at the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships held in Incheon, South Korea.
Running in front of his home fans, Kumara produced another outstanding performance to claim the Gold Medal at the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo.
Kumara then represented Sri Lanka at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia while competing in the 400m and 400X4m relay event.
He was also part of the Sri Lankan 400X4m Relay Team that participated at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
Thereafter, he represented the country at the 2002 Asian Athletics Championships in Busan, South Korea while returning a time of 45.06s in the 400m and also participated in the 400X4m relay event.
Kumara maintained his reputation as the country’s best 400m runner and had the honour of representing Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris. He also represented Sri Lanka at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece while returning a time of 46.20s in the 400m heats. Thereafter, he helped Sri Lanka to win a Bronze Medal in the 400X4m relay at the 2006 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. (C.D)
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