Glimpse of History from ANCL Archives: When Sri Lanka won the first ever Olympic medal ... :

Duncan White, legendary Sri Lankan Athlete

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Duncan White (March 1, 1918, Lathpandura - Jul 3, 1998, Warwickshire) Perhaps, Duncan White's Olympic medal would have been an unsolicited gift that came along with the British granting Independence to Sri Lanka in 1948.

It was a defining moment for Sri Lanka as its name, for the first time in sporting history, was marked on the world map when Duncan White won the Silver medal in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympic held in London, England.

He was the first Sri Lankan athlete to win a medal for his country in an Olympics event. White was born on March 1, 1918 in Lathpandura in the Kalutara District when the British ruled Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), as the second of four children of John Bernard White and Cecilia Hawk White.

He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy where he won the prestigious 'Trinity Lion' for athletics. However, this was subsequently withdrawn from him due to minor disciplinary reasons.

White won his Olympic medal the same year that Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain. He had trained for only about 3 months before the games, whereas the gold medalist, Roy Cochran of the USA, had trained for about 4 years. White's time for the event, 51.8 seconds, was only 0.7 seconds behind Cochran, which along with Cochran's time bettered the existing Olympic record.

Following his victory at the Olympics, White was welcomed at a ceremony at Trinity, and was honoured by returning his prestigious 'Lion'. Making a speech at the special assembly, White stated that "although my victory at the Olympics is prestigious, the 'Lion' makes me feel more honoured than that", and received the 'Lion' with open arms.

In the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand, White won the 440-yard hurdles, only 0.3 seconds behind the world record. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1949. Subsequently in 1988 he was honoured by Sri Lanka by issuing a postage stamp. White died in 1998 in Warwickshire, England.

White was married to Angela White n‚e Siebel, and had six children: Nita, Marylene, Fiona, Dan, Maxine and Chris. He had three brothers, Frederick A. White, also an athlete, Stanley Leonard White and Douglas Andrew White (died 1960).

One of the significant contributions of White to the Sri Lankan sporting arena is the establishment of the Duncan White Award for the best athlete in a bid to encourage Sri Lanka's talents in the track and field events. White will remain in the hearts and minds of thousands of Sri Lankans as a legendary athlete who brought honour to the nation as a true Sri Lankan.

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