Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Reshika Amali Udugampola |
Nationality | SRI |
Born | Colombo, Sri Lanka | November 13, 1993
Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
Weight | 54 kg (119 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Freestyle |
Reshika Amali Udugampola (born 13 November 1993) is a former Sri Lankan freestyle swimmer and sports administrator. [1] [2] She is also the current secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka's Athletics Commission and also serves in the marketing sub-committee of the International Olympic Committee. [3] [4]
Reshika was born in Colombo, Western Province. She initially attended the Southlands Balika College in Galle as both of her parents were employed in Galle. She later switched to Gateway College, Colombo after her family moved from Galle to Colombo. [5]
Reshika started swimming at the age of eight in 2003 in Galle. She pursued an interest in the sport of swimming similar to her sister. It was revealed that her sister was advised by the doctors to engage in swimming as a remedy to cure asthma. Since then, Reshika also joined swimming practices with her sister. [5]
She won her maiden national title in 2010 in the women's 100m freestyle at the National Swimming Championships and was coached by Manoj Abeysinghe who was influential in Reshika reaching Olympic standards. She competed in the women's 50 metre butterfly at the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships. [6] She represented Sri Lanka at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships and she was the only female competitor at the competition from Sri Lanka. During the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, she competed in the women's 100 metre freestyle and in the 50m butterfly events. [7]
She represented Sri Lanka at the 2012 Summer Olympics which was also her first and only appearance at the Olympics representing Sri Lanka. [8] [9] During the 2012 London Olympics, she competed in the women's 100 metre freestyle, finishing in 44th place overall in the heats, failing to qualify for the semifinals. [10] [11] Prior to the Olympics, she traveled to Australia and had a special one year training at the Nunawadig Aquatic Club in Melbourne. [6]
After competing at the 2012 Olympics, she was appointed as the secretary of the NOCSL's Athletics Commission. She was nominated to the IOC's marketing committee from the South Asian region. [5] In October 2020, she was appointed to the International Olympic Committee's marketing sub-committee. [4] She is also currently a full time marketer attached to an international IT firm.
Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. She won the Olympic silver medal for the 200m event in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the second Sri Lankan to win an Olympic medal after Duncan White and the first Asian woman to win an Olympic or World Championship medal in a sprint event. She is also the only Asian athlete to have claimed an Olympic medal in sprint events. She is also the first and only Sri Lankan to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Her silver medal achievement at the 2000 Sydney Olympics also stood as the only Olympic medal for a South Asian in athletics event for 21 years before Neeraj Chopra's gold medal achievement at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is fondly nicknamed as the Asian Black Mare. She has represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1996, 2000 and 2008. She is considered one of the most decorated sprinters in Sri Lanka. However, she is also a deemed as a controversial figure in Sri Lanka.
Nalanda College is a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka where provides primary and secondary education for Sri Lankan boys. The school was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College Colombo and was registered as a separate school on 1 November 1924.
Panadura is a main city in Kalutara District, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately 27 km (17 mi) south of Colombo. Panadura is surrounded on all sides by water; the Indian Ocean, the Bolgoda Lake and river is reason for that. Panadura is famed as the location of important events in the Buddhist revival movement of Sri Lanka. Panadura Beach is an attractive place for local and foreign tourists.
Deshabandu Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. She is the current Asian Games record holder in women's 200m event and current Asian Athletics Championships record holder in women's 400m event as well as national record holder in women's 400m. She is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes to have represented Sri Lanka at international level alongside her teammate Susanthika Jayasinghe. She is also regarded as the most successful Sri Lankan athlete at the Asian Games with a medal haul of four medals including three gold medals and became the first Sri Lankan female athlete to clinch three Asian Games gold medals. She represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1992, 2000 and 2004. She also represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games on four occasions in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 as well as at the South Asian Games on four occasions.
The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is one of the oldest orchestras in South Asia.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its sixteenth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics, having missed only the 1976 Games. The delegation consisted of seven competitors: two athletics competitors, two badminton players one shooter and two short-distance swimmers. Cooray, Samarakoon and Karunaratne qualified for the Games by meeting their respective qualifying standards; the remainder of the team entered through wildcard or quota places. Karunarante was the flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Vishvanath Buddhika Keerthisena, also known as Boodee Keerthisena, is a Sri Lankan filmmaker. He began his career drawing comics before moving into painting, dress design, and visual arts. He moved into music in the late 1980s, and performed in a band called "Boo-Dee and the Woo-Zees" (1986–1992) as the lead singer.
Bronte Campbell is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, a dual Olympic gold-medal winner and world champion. Her older sister, Cate, is also a competitive swimmer, and once held world records in both the short and long course 100 metre individual freestyle events. Bronte and Cate are the first Australian siblings on the same Olympic swimming team since the 1972 Olympics and the first Australian sisters ever to compete within the same swimming event at the Olympics. Bronte Campbell won three gold medals at the 2015 World Championships, including the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events.
Brittany MacLean is a Canadian retired competitive swimmer who has represented her country in the Summer Olympics and other international championships. She won a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Christine Sonali Merrill, also simply known as Christine Merill, is a former Sri Lankan–American track and field athlete and mechanical engineer. During her career, she specialized in the 400m hurdles event and also occasionally competed in 100m, 200m, 100m hurdles, 4 × 100m relay and 4 × 400m relay events.
Nadeeka Lakmali Bambarenda Liyanage is a Sri Lankan javelin thrower. She is regarded one of the finest javelin throwers in Sri Lanka with global fame. She is also attached with the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force and current national record holder in women's javelin throw event.
Eththiligoda Vidana Gamage Pubudu Chathuranga,, popularly as Pubudu Chathuranga, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. He is also worked as a model, TV presenter and a screenplay writer.
Matthew Duncan Abeysinghe, OLY is a competitive swimmer who has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international competitions, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo respectively. Abeysinghe trained under his coach and father, Manoj Abeysinghe, with Killer Whale Aquatics, until his departure for higher education, where he resumed his training at Ohio State University in the US. Abeysinghe is regarded as the greatest swimmer and one of the most accomplished athletes Sri Lanka has ever produced.
Deshabandu Julian Bolling is a Sri Lankan medal-winning swimmer who has represented his country at numerous international competitions. He is fondly remembered as the poster boy of Sri Lankan swimming as well as the pin-up boy of Sri Lankan swimming in the 1980s. He has won 15 gold medals for Sri Lanka at the South Asian Games between 1984 and 1991. He also represented Sri Lanka at three Olympic Games, firstly at Los Angeles (USA) in 1984, then at Seoul in 1988, and finally at Barcelona (Spain) in 1992. He was the first Sri Lankan ever to participate in three consecutive Olympics.
Anoma Wijewardene is a Sri Lankan contemporary artist. Wijewardene's paintings and installations reflect themes of sustainability, diversity and peace. She has held exhibitions around the world, including Venice, London, Sydney, Dubai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Maldives and Colombo.
Shivani Vasagam Wedanayake is a Sri Lankan model, entrepreneur and beauty pageant titleholder. Wedanayake is the daughter of the cinematographer A. V. m Vasagam, and forayed into the fashion and beauty industry encouraged by her father to follow the tradition in the entertainment and field of arts. She is also a published poet with the National Library of North American poets.
Abeykoon Mudiyansalage Yupun Priyadarshana, known as Yupun Abeykoon, also referred to as Yupun Priyadarshana, is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in men's 100m, men's 200m and in men's indoor 60m. On 3 July 2022, he became the first South Asian to break the 10-Second barrier for the men's 100 meters event at the Resisprint International competition, with a timing of 9.96 seconds, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He currently resides in Italy as he went on a scholarship to Italy in 2015. He is also attached to the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army and represents Army Sports Club. He is currently regarded as the fastest Sri Lankan man as well as fastest South Asian man in men's 100m and 200m disciplines.
Kala Suri Barbara Sansoni was a Sri Lankan designer, artist, colourist, entrepreneur, and writer. She was known for her works in architecture, textile designs, and handwoven panels. She founded the Barefoot textile company, a company that is highly acclaimed for its handloom fabric. She also served as the chairperson and chief designer of Barefoot Pvt. Ltd for several years.
Ruwanthie de Chickera also spelt as Ruwanthi de Chickera is a Sri Lankan playwright, dramatist, screenwriter, activist, writer and theatre director. She has engaged in research on various fields including politics, sexuality, education, religion, arts, violence and culture. She jointly won the Gratiaen Prize along with Lakshmi de Silva in 2000.