Trevor de Silva - only cyclist to win medals at Asian Games

Leslie FERNANDO

CYCLING: Trevor de Silva, the racing cycling specialist was one of the best riders Sri Lanka has had.

He was the only cyclist to win two bronze medals at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

There were top riders namely_Maurice Coomaravel, Chandra Perera, Anthony Symonds, Boniface Perera, A. M. Sumanaweera, Kamal Palitha, Jinadasa Alwis, Irwin Fernando, Kingsley Rupasinghe, Jude Priyantha Fernando to name some cyclists who come to mind, but Trevor de Silva is one cyclist who has won laurels abroad.

Trevor had the great honour winning two bronze medals for Sri Lanka in Bangkok, the events on the track 4,800 metres and 800 metres races.

It was consistency and hard work that enabled Paragon Peddlars Club member Trevor to reach the top in the sport.

He was one of the best racing cyclist in Sri Lanka. He has proved that he is a champ. Trevor first participated in competitive cycling in 1958 at the National Schools Championships at St.Joseph's College track and was victorious.

He studied at St.Sebastian's College, Moratuwa and later joined St.Joseph's. His first major victory was winning the Tour de Lanka in 1963. From then on he has been winning regularly-Tour of the Valley in Ratnapura, Tour of Hills in Kandy, Paragon Peddlar Classic and the Winged Wheel Grand Prix.

In 1961, Trevor, along with five other riders participated at the Indian National Cycling Championships and finished amongst the top ten.

At the Asian Games in Bangkok Trevor rode at a speed of 60 km per hour, and helped him win the bronze medals.

He was the runner-up at the Sports Star of the Year Contest in 1967 organised by the `Daily News'. S. L. N. Rosa, double Gold Medalist at Asian Games was the winner of the contest.

Trevor left for England in 1971 but did not give up cycling and trained there. In 1972, he was selected to go for 1972 Munich Olympics but due to financial constraints, he was unlucky to miss the trip.

While in Sri Lanka, Trevor was employed at Survey Department Geological Section at Union Place for three years and was also at Lever Brothers for 2 years.

Trevor is married to Anne Gullen, Personal Director at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Right now, Trevor is attached to the Personal Training Fitness Centre `Execfit" in London.