Sri Lanka would always cherish the remarkable efforts of Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, who created history by winning the first athletic gold medal for the island nation at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Popularly known as ‘Ethir’, the 24-year-old Sri Lankan athlete was the shining star out of the 11-member contingent, as he produced a stunning performance to win the Men’s high jump with a new Asian Games record of six feet and 7.7/8 inches (2.03m).
As a result, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) were able to secure 11th place in the final medals tally out of the 20-member nations of the Asian Games Federation, that participated from May 24 to June 1, 1958, at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka had earlier won only a silver medal at the 1951 inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi, India prior to Ethirveerasingam’s heroics at the third edition of the Games.
Mohamed Akbar came close to winning a gold medal but had to settle with the silver medal while competing in the Men’s pole vault event at the 1951 New Delhi Asian Games.
However, Ethirveerasingam, the former student of Jaffna Central College successfully edged out his nearest rivals from the host nation Noboru Kasamatsu (2.00m) and Yukio Ishikawa (1.95m), who had to be content with the silver and bronze medal respectively.
Ethirveerasingam was a revolutionary in the field of athletics and his national record of six feet and six and a half inches, remained unbroken till 1989.
His journey of success was the result of some real hard work, commitment and determination and he was able to reach great heights through his own untiring efforts.
Ethirveerasingam started his illustrious career as a 12-year-old boy while practicing the high jump using his self-made high jump equipment in the cool shades of palmyra trees in Jaffna.
No one would have expected this boy who daily cleared a height of over four feet would be a superstar in the high jump in years to come. He entered competition while shattering the junior high Jump record at the Public Schools Athletic meet in 1946. Thereafter, he cleared six feet and three inches and shattered the 12-year-old record of V. G. George.
Ethirveerasingam proved his talent and potential once again by erasing the Ceylon record clearing six feet and four inches at the National Championships held in 1952 at the P. Sara Oval.
In the same year, he participated in the Invitation Sports Festival held in Pakistan and shattered the Pakistani national record. These victories enabled Ethirveerasingam to qualify for the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 and he was the youngest member of the Sri Lankan Team to participate in the Olympics.
In 1954, at the second Asian Games held in the Philippines, he cleared six feet and four inches. This was equalled by four athletes and Ethirveerasingam was placed fourth.
However, Ethirveerasingam was not discouraged, and he continued to practice hard. In 1955, he left Jaffna Central College and entered St. Joseph’s College, Colombo with an intention of improving his athletic skills. Under the guidance of Duncan White, P. E. Rajendra and Anthony Abeysinghe, he changed the style from the usual Western roll to the straddle jump and at the athletic meet of St. Joseph’s College held in the same year he cleared a height of six feet and seven inches.
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