The unfortunate story of a legend – S.L.B. Rosa

‘Visikala Olympic Padakkama Rosa’, the book written by Lalith Gunawardena in 2004 discusses the political faux pas that denied the participation of athlete S.L.B. Rosa in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

In 1976, K.B. Rathnayaka was the Minister of Sports, Julian Grero was the President of the National Olympic Committee and Shirley Illesinghe was the Chef-de-Mission. Did these officials collude to prevent an athlete from winning an Olympic medal in 1976?

Sri Lanka, or Ceylon back then, first took part in Olympic Games in the 1948 London Olympics, where Duncan White won a Silver medal in the 400m hurdles event. Since then the island nation had to wait 52 years to see another athlete winning a medal. It was Susanthika Jayasinghe who won a Silver medal in the 200m event at the Sydney Olympics which was held in 2000.

We wouldn’t have had to wait that long, as the perfect opportunity was at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but that happened to be the only Olympic Games in which Sri Lanka didn’t participate.

Lucien Benedict Rosa was a certain medal prospect in the marathon event. Having clinched two Gold medals for the 5,000m and the 10,000m in the 1974 Asian Games, having set the 10,000m national record in 1975, having set the Sri Lanka record at the Fukuoka Marathon a few months before the Olympics, having practiced the marathon for 5 years in the USA and having been placed 4th in the world class Boston Marathon, Rosa was geared up to run and win a medal for his country. In fact, Rosa was ranked 11th in the world and in the 1976 Olympics, where 9 out of 11 athletes didn’t participate since Africa decided to boycott the Olympics, a Silver or a Bronze medal was on offer. The defending Gold medalist, Frank Shooter only feared Rosa, but Sri Lanka decided to boycott the Olympics without a valid reason.

Rosa was in Canada eagerly waiting to run, but he never made it to the starting line since Sri Lanka withdrew from the Olympics. According to Rosa Sri Lanka didn’t boycott the Olympics, it was an administrative lie and Rosa was denied the chance. He cried, paused for 5 seconds and told me it was the Chef-de-Mission who took personal revenge on him and didn’t allow him to run even under the Olympic flag.

The boycott was a lie since the Sri Lankan flag was raised at both the stadium and the Olympic Village where the African nations who boycotted the games didn’t have their flags up. Even after 43 years, the incident brings tears to the eyes of this wonderful gentleman who didn’t have the best of childhoods with an abusive stepfather, and received step motherly treatment from the Sri Lankan sports officials. Even after 43 years Rosa still holds the national record for the 1000m race and held the record for the Marathon for 40 years until 2015.

The story of S.L.B. Rosa is a tale of how politics and crooked officials combined to damage sport and shrink the career of a remarkable athlete.

Lets start from the beginning , take us through your  childhood?

I was born on 11 February 1944 in Nawalapitiya, as the youngest in a family of 3 to parents Arnold Rosa and Charlotte de Silva. My father died when I was 3 years old and my mother re-married. I have 5 more half-siblings. I studied at St. Mary’s High School until Grade 3 and later attended Roman Catholic College after moving to Ampitiya.

What other sports were you engaged in?

To start off I was a football player before I moved into athletics, and also played volleyball in school.

Who inspired you to choose a sport like athletics?

The credit should go to Latherus Weerasinghe, the Principal of Roman Catholic College. One day he told me to try for track events and stop football. Credit should also go to Eddie Gunasekera for moulding me to become an international athlete.

How was life living in a large family with a stepfather?

To be frank with you, Vimukthi, I didn’t have the best of childhoods. I was treated harshly by my abusive stepfather. One day in 1961, I thought to myself that everything should come to an end and I have to stand up for myself. I was 16 when I escaped from home. I ran away for a better life.

Where did you go and didn’t your mother look for you? What happened to your life after that?

I went to a friend’s place. That family had 7 boys and the mother was willing to accept me. Yes, my mother came searching for me but I didn’t want to go back and the mother of my friend never forced me. My life changed after that. I completed my schooling and worked 9 months as an accountant for a private business before joining the Army.

When did you get serious about athletics?

The start of my career was when I won the Dharmaraja 5 mile cross country race. I joined the Army in 1963 and that’s when I became more serious about athletics.

How was life in the Army, and what support did they give you?

I was in the engineering unit and since I had to attend training I was not able to participate in the Army meets in 1963. Initially when I joined the Army I was identified as a good wrestling prospect, but I wanted to do athletics. It was in 1964 that I participated in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000m events and won all three events with record timings. Son, I never won in public school meets and have never won a medal until I joined the Army. The support given by the Army was immense and the engineering unit had good athletes at that time.

What do you regard as your main event?

During my school days my main events were the 800m, 1,500m and the cross country (5 mile race), but later when I joined the Army, I did the 5,000m and 10,000m, and still later in 1971, I became a marathon runner.

How about your national performances?

I have never won at the public school meets. In one of the trials I did break the public school record for the 1,500m but it was not recognized. The country got to know my name in 1965. At the age of 21, I was able to beat the great Olympian R.J.K. Karunananda in the 5,000m event at the national championships. From there onwards until 1970 I was able to win most of the long distance races in the country. Some of my competitors were Wimalasena Perera, Karunananda, A.S.M. Khan and Alphonsus, but I was able to triumph over them.

How was your first international experience and what was your  first international win?

My first international experience was in the 1966 Asian Games which was held in December in Bangkok. In my first international event, I won two Bronze medals, in the 5,000m with a timing of 14.56 and the 10,000m with a time of 31:06.06. In fact I was the only Sri Lankan to win medals at the 1966 Asian Games for athletics.

How about your performance in the Asian and Commonwealth Games?

I won two Bronze medals at the 1966 Asian Games for the 5,000m and the 10,000m events and in the 1970 Asian Games I was able to better my performance and win two Gold medals in the 5,000m with a time of 14:32.2 and the 10,000m event. I established a new Asian Games record for the 10,000m event with a time of 29:55.6 and was the first Asian to run the 10,000m event under 30 minutes. The 10,000m record stood for 12 years until it was broken at the 1982 Asian Games. To date no other Sri Lankan runner has been able to win a single medal for the 5,000 or the 10,000m events at the Asian Games.

No one expected me to win the 10,000m event. Everyone expected the Japanese Kenichi Otsuka to win, but I proved everyone wrong with a record breaking time.

I was not sent for the 1966 Commonwealth Games since we didn’t have enough financial support, and only Wimalasena Perera was sent.

How and why did you go to the USA? When did you become a marathon runner?

After my record breaking performance in the 1970 Asian Games I got scholarships from 4 different countries to study and train there. After much thought, I decided to go to the US. I was offered a chance to follow a Business Management and Coaching Certificate Course from 1970 to 1974 by the Director of the University of Wisconsin Parkside, US and by Rosandich and Bob Lawson who were their athletics coaches. Rosandich and Lawson decided that I am not a 5,000m or a 10,000m runner and convinced me to become a marathon runner. It was in 1971 that I became a marathon runner under the long distance coach Vic Godfrey.

How did you get selected for the 1972 Olympics?

My first marathon was in 1971, which was the North Central College Marathon. Running barefoot, I was placed 15th with a time of 2 hours and 48 minutes. In my second marathon I won over the 1968 US Olympian Ron Davis at the 1972 Drake Relays with a time of 2:22.13, which was better than the Sri Lankan National record held by Wimalasena Perera, and that’s how I got the chance to represent Sri Lanka at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

How about your Olympic experience? Did you attend any training prior to the Olympics?

To start off, before the 1972 Olympics I should have been in the 1968 Olympics contingent, but even after my name was included in the team, the officials decided to scrap my name due to financial issues. While 3 athletes toured, I had to stay home.

In 1972, I was asked to attend a 10-week training in Germany, which actually didn’t benefit me at all. In the 1972 Olympics I was named the Captain of the team that featured Wimaladasa, Sunil Gunawardena and Daya Rajasinghe. I had to run the 10,000m and the Marathon. I was placed 16th in my 10,000m heat and couldn’t advance to the finals. By the time of the marathon I was down with flu. I somehow managed to run but couldn’t finish. I was having asthma and difficulties in breathing so decided to give up after running 21 kms. The 1972 marathon was the fourth marathon in my life.

What happened in the 1976 Olympics? Why couldn’t you participate?

I had been practicing the marathon for 5 years with a lot of hard work and dedication. I was placed 4th in the Boston Marathon in 1974 with a time of 2:15:54 and just a few months before the Olympics I improved my timing to 2:14:31, which was the National Record from 1975 till 2015. My coach Godfrey was convinced that I would win a medal.

Vimukthi, I am in tears, son. I sacrificed so much for the Olympics. I ran about 95 miles a week, got up at 4.00 a.m., did my cleaning job, then ran seven miles to university, attended classes, and ran a workout in the afternoon if it wasn’t a mileage day, and then ran home. After being in red hot form I travelled to Montreal and shortly after arriving at the Olympic Village I found out that the officials had confiscated my credentials and that I was taken off from the competition. They lied that they had boycotted the Games, but if a boycott was planned then why would the Sri Lankan flag be hoisted in the Olympic Village and the main stadium and why did an official come to Montreal?

There were 13 of us to run under the Olympic flag but the Chef-de-Mission didn’t allow it. He sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee authorities stating that Rosa should not be allowed to participate, and if I did, that I will not be their responsibility. It meant that I may not have a country to return to if I did participate. I stayed at the Olympic Village until the Olympics ended, crying and not eating. While they ran the Marathon I was watching it on TV with tears in my eyes.

What’s the proudest moment in your athletic career?

That would be claiming the 4th place at the world famous Boston Marathon in 1974 with a record breaking time of 2:15:54. I was able to beat many world class champion marathon runners.

When and why did you retire?

I retired in September 1976, mainly because of disappointments. I couldn’t believe what happened in the 1976 Olympics and it was too much for me to bear. I cried for days, lost my appetite and didn’t train for 3 weeks.

Without running a step after the incident I competed in the West Virginia Charleston Distance Run of 15 miles and was placed 3rd behind the 20 km world record holder. After that race, I said goodbye to athletics.

Were you involved in any coaching or administrative roles after retiring?

Yes, soon after I retired I started coaching at my university and then in 1982 I became a US citizen and replaced my coach Godfrey and became the chief cross country and distance coach at Wisconsin Parkside University. After 32 years of coaching I retired in 2008.

Where is athletics in Sri Lanka heading now?

It’s really sad to see where it is heading right now: not in the right direction at all. The money should be utilized to motivate athletes to perform better, but I don’t know what happens to that money.

What needs to be done to improve athletics?

There should be qualifying standards, and the competitiveness should increase. The school coaches should not give up on their athletes even after they move to the national level. We need to see an improvement in the coaches. You know, Vimukthi, I came to Sri Lanka in 1992 and did a coaching camp in Diyatalawa. The 13 marathon runners who attended that went to Colombo, ran the marathon and all of them achieved their personal best timings.

Who is Rosa now?

I married Wimala Rosa, who is also my first cousin, in 1977 and then got the green card to the USA and permanent residency in 1982. I have two grown up children. My daughter Dilani is working in California and my son Dilusha is still at college expecting to graduate next year. Both of them play tennis. My daughter qualified to play in the State championships.

I retired from coaching and stay with my family. I travel to see my American mother once every fortnight. She is 99 and in a nursing home.

My foster mother loves me so much, maybe even more than my biological mother. Both my foster parents are people with amazing souls.

Finally, your views on the SL Olympians?

A wonderful initiative, I have written to them a few times appreciating their good work. Bringing the forgotten Olympians back to fame and identifying young potential talent is something really appreciable. I wish Sriyani and Darsha all the very best.

By Vimukthi Adithya /Ceylon Today