Village boy from Jaffna who dreamed in leaps and bounds
The extraordinary life of Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam
On Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 11.55 a.m., Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles, California, USA, surrounded by his family. He was 89 years old.
‘Ethir’ was born in 1934 in a one-room hut with a palmyrah leaf roof and a mud floor in the small village of Periyavillan in the Jaffna peninsula. He taught himself to high jump in his backyard by analysing pictures in an athletics book he had won as a prize after one of his first meets at Jaffna Central College.
He made a promise to himself that he would make it to the Olympics after watching a newsreel of the 1948 Olympic Games at a theatre in Jaffna town. Four years later, at the age of 17, he competed at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. His athletics journey continued as he went on to compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and won the first Gold Medal in any sport for Ceylon at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, followed by a Silver Medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ethir broke high jump records at every age while at Jaffna Central College, performing strengthening exercises with homemade weights using old bus axles and other bus parts. After winning the National Meet in Colombo in 1951, he finally acquired a specialist athletics coach, P.E. Rajendra, and a workout regime. He was then selected for the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. He next participated in the 1954 Asian Games, where he was placed fourth despite jumping the same height as the medal winners, setting a new Asian Record that he shared with them.
In 1955 and 1956, Ethir was voted the Ceylon Daily News “Sports Star of the Year". He transferred to St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, for his A’ Levels and to be nearer his coach. In 1956, he was awarded a full athletic scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He later earned a Master’s Degree from California Polytechnic University, San
Luis Obispo, and a PhD from Cornell University in 1971.
In 1958, despite co-holding the Asian High Jump record, as well as the Ceylon record, he was initially not selected to be on the team for the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. However, due to a series of articles by Daily News Sports Editor Carlton Seneviratne, the selection committee relented. But being selected so late, he had to find and pay his own way to Tokyo from Los Angeles. A benefactor, Donovan Andree, donated US$ 5,000 for his travel just a few days before the Games. He arrived wearing his UCLA track suit with the Ceylon insignia patch pinned on it, as he wasn’t provided with a uniform by the association. His fellow teammates then elected him Captain of the team. (YouTube video of Ethir jumping at the Asian Game with his narration: https:// youtu.be/LLAXSs67Dpw? si=YFJrfm9pyM6BSfI7)
Ethir not only won the Gold Medal but also set a new Asian and Ceylon record of 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 metres). His Ceylon record lasted until 1989.
In 1960, despite being the Asian and Ceylon High Jump record holder, and jumping the qualifying height for the Olympics, he was not selected for the Mexico Games. Again, in 1962, a campaign was required for his selection, and he won a Silver Medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta.
In 1956, he and two friends went to observe the Federal Party’s satyagraha at the Galle Face against the “Sinhala Only Bill” that was to be introduced in Parliament. In the attacks that ensued, Ethir and his two friends were almost killed by rioters.