Sports
Sri Lanka born Olympic champion swimmer David Wilkie dies aged 70
British Olympic swimming champion David Wilkie has died at the age of 70.
The Scot won 200m breaststroke gold in Montreal in 1976, as well as two Olympic silver medals and three world titles.
His family released a statement saying: “It is with great sadness that the family of David Wilkie MBE announce that he died peacefully surrounded by his family this morning, following his brave battle with cancer.”
Born in Sri Lanka to Scottish parents, Wilkie won his first major medal with a bronze at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh
He collected Olympic silver in Munich in 1972 and won World Championship gold the following year.
Wilkie added three more Commonwealth medals for Scotland, including two golds, in 1974.
In 1975, he completed a 100m and 200m breaststroke double at world level and was voted British Sportsman of the Year by sports writers.
Wilkie’s crowning moment came with an extraordinary performance in Montreal, with his Olympic triumph taking more than three seconds off the world record time.
He also came second in the 100m event in Canada. Unbeaten over 200m for four years and the first British man to win Olympic gold in the pool in 68 years, he chose to retire one month after the Games at the age of 22.
Wilkie was made an MBE in 1977.
From Sri Lankan sun to Edinburgh chlorine
In 2020, Wilkie spoke in depth to BBC Scotland’s This Sporting Life podcast about his journey from his Colombo birthplace, through his arrival in Edinburgh aged 11, to his conquering of the swimming world at 22 and the fame that came with it.
He grew up in a big family home in the Sri Lankan sunshine, surrounded by nannies and maids, until his Scottish dad sent him to boarding school in Edinburgh.
At first, he hated it. The fun of swimming in Sri Lanka’s warm waters was replaced with cold, crowded and regimented pools with nylon ropes and the smell of chlorine.
“The years went by and my attitude changed, but it took time,” he said.
Indeed, by the time Wilkie left school, he had already won Commonwealth Games bronze, but it was also time to rebel and he grew his hair, developed sideburns and created a look that was unheard of in the staid world of swimming.
(BBC)
The final week of the year is like a Roman feast for the Test cricket fan, and Boxing Day this year promises mouth-watering contests in Melbourne and Centurion but look this way too, will you? Bulawayo is set to host Zimbabwe’s first Boxing Day Test 8n 28 years too, and with unpredictable Afghanistan on the other side, a real tussle is expected between the two teams, who despite their recent underwhelming performances, would feel like they’re favourites. After all, the last time either side won a Test was against each other.
But that was way back 8n 2021. Since then, they have not found a way to win. And one look at the Zimbabwe and Afghanistan squads for this two-Test series suggests that they’re both looking to change that by taking a different direction for 2025 and beyond. A splattering of Test debutants are expected – theoretically, there could be as many 15 debuts across the two XIs – and this series could very well be the one that births a new generation.
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Mahinda College, Galle took firm control of their two-day Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket encounter as they reached 213 for nine wickets at stumps after restricting Moratu Vidyalaya to 96 runs at Galle on Wednesday.
After Arosha Udayanga grabbed five wickets to trouble the visitors, the home team topped 200 runs thanks to a century by open batsman Dulsith Darshana and a half century by Senuka Dangamuwa.
While Darshana scored 13 fours and a six in his 106 which came in 143 balls, Dangamuwa hammered nine fours and a six in his 50 which came in 51 balls.
Mahinda are in search of their first outright victory in the tournament proper after having earned first innings points in two out of the three matches in their group.
Moratu Vidyalaya too have completed three matches and have scored first innings points on one occasion.
Scores
Moratu Vidyalaya
96 all out in 45.2 overs (Sanjana Senavirathna 31, Shehara Fernando 20; Arosha Udayanga 5/35)
Mahinda
213 for 9 in 52 overs (Dulsith Darshana 106, Senuka Dangamuwa 50; Isuru Nidharshana 2/64, Nishitha Fernando 5/45)
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Athletics has suspended track and field official S. W. Nimalsiri for four years after a three member committee appointed by the sports governing body found him guilty of manhandling leading athletic official G.L.S. Perera within the Sri Lanka Athletics premises in Torrington.
“The executive committee of Sri Lanka Athletics decided to hand Nimalsiri a four year suspension after the three member committee concluded that he was guilty of manhandling the respected official,” Saman Kumara Gunawardhana, the secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island.
At the time of the suspension Nimalairi was a committee member of Sri Lanka Athletics and is the president of the Ace Athletics Club and secretary of the Colombo District Athletics Association.
The three member committee that inquired the incident involving Nimalairi and Perera was headed by retired district court judge Upali Samaraweera. Others in the committee were former director of sports Padma Siriwardana and disciplinary committee chairman of Sri Lanka Athletics Chandana Ekanayake.
Nimalsiri has also been suspended from officiating in track and field competitions.
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