The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Sri Lanka
This page contains a list of the greatest Sri Lankan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 4 of which were born in Sri Lanka. This makes Sri Lanka the birth place of the 78th most number of Athletes behind Turkmenistan, and Uruguay.
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Sri Lankan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Sri Lankan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Heather Armitage (b. 1933)
With an HPI of 55.25, Heather Armitage is the most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.
Heather Joy Armitage (later Young, then McClelland; born 17 March 1933) is a British retired sprinter and British record holder for the 100 yards.
2. Duncan White (1918 - 1998)
With an HPI of 43.80, Duncan White is the 2nd most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Major Deshamanya Duncan M. White MBE, ED (1 March 1918 – 3 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He was also the second South Asian to have won an Olympic medal in track and field after Norman Pritchard of India, with the third being Susanthika Jayasinghe, another Sri Lankan, who won a silver medal in the 200 metres in 2000.
3. Bob Tisdall (1907 - 2004)
With an HPI of 40.02, Bob Tisdall is the 3rd most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Robert Morton Newburgh Tisdall (16 May 1907 in Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon – 27 July 2004 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia) was an Irish athlete who won a gold medal in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Tisdall was raised in Nenagh, County Tipperary. He had run only six 400 m hurdles when he won the gold medal at the 1932 Olympic Games in a world record time of 51.7 seconds, which was not recognised under the rules of the time because he had hit a hurdle. Later, because of the notoriety of this incident, the rules were changed and the President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, presented Tisdall with a Waterford crystal rose bowl with the image of him knocking over the last hurdle etched into the glass. Though the IAAF did not recognise the record at the time, they now recognise the mark, giving Tisdall credit for setting the milestone of being the first man under 52 seconds.
4. Susanthika Jayasinghe (b. 1975)
With an HPI of 35.70, Susanthika Jayasinghe is the 4th most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe (Sinhala: සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) 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. She became a victim of politics during the peak of her career as many politicians and sports officials attempted to take credit for her medal achievements despite not supporting her prior to competing at the events. She was embroiled in political controversies including a series of false doping allegations, standoff with politicians, seven year old murder trials against her former spouse and sexual harassment. She was also sidelined for major part of her career due to injury concerns and also endured a troubled marriage life.
5. Natalia (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Natalia is the 5th most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. Their biography has been translated into different languages.
Natalia may refer to:
6. Mathilda Karlsson (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Mathilda Karlsson is the 6th most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Mathilda Thanuja Karlsson (born 27 September 1984 in Kandy) is a Sri Lankan born Swedish equestrian athlete. Mathila hails from Sri Lanka and was adopted by her Swedish parents when she was three months old. She competed for Sweden until 2018, when she switched to her native country. In 2021 she qualified as an individual rider for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, being the first Sri Lankan equestrian at the Olympic Games. She also became the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Her horse is named as Chopin VA. In 2023, Karlsson was banned from competition from the FEI for failing to attend drug testing. Her suspension lasts until January 14th, 2025.
7. Yupun Abeykoon (b. 1994)
With an HPI of 0.00, Yupun Abeykoon is the 7th most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. His biography has been translated into different languages.
Abeykoon Mudiyansalage Yupun Priyadarshana, known as Yupun Abeykoon (Sinhala: යුපුන් අබේකෝන්), also referred to as Yupun Priyadarshana (born 31 December 1994), 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. Abeykoon is also the first and only Sri Lankan to have competed at the Diamond League. In April 2022, he set the new Asian record in the men's 150m by clocking 15.16 seconds. On 22 May 2022 at a meeting held at the Stadio Zecchini, Grosseto in Italy he won the men's 200 meters event setting a new national record of 20.37 seconds. On 25 May 2022 at an event held at the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion, Dessau in Germany he won the men's 100 meters setting a new national record of 10.06 seconds.
8. Nimali Liyanarachchi (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Nimali Liyanarachchi is the 8th most famous Sri Lankan Athlete. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Nimali Waliwarsha Konda Liyanarachchi (born 19 September 1989) is a Sri Lankan 800 m runner and current national record holder in women's 1500m event. She is also believed to be the first Sri Lankan woman to have competed in steeplechase events. She became the first Sri Lankan woman to complete the distance of 3000 metres in steeplechase event under 11 minutes. She won the best athlete award twice at the Presidential award ceremonies by the Sports Ministry including the Most Outstanding Sportswoman of the Year in 2015. She is currently attached to Sri Lanka Air Force.
People
Pantheon has 8 people classified as Sri Lankan athletes born between 1907 and 1994. Of these 8, 6 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Sri Lankan athletes include Heather Armitage, Susanthika Jayasinghe, and Natalia. The most famous deceased Sri Lankan athletes include Duncan White, and Bob Tisdall. As of April 2024, 4 new Sri Lankan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Natalia, Mathilda Karlsson, and Yupun Abeykoon.
Living Sri Lankan Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Heather Armitage
1933 - Present
HPI: 55.25
Susanthika Jayasinghe
1975 - Present
HPI: 35.70
Natalia
HPI: 0.00
Mathilda Karlsson
HPI: 0.00
Yupun Abeykoon
1994 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Nimali Liyanarachchi
HPI: 0.00
Deceased Sri Lankan Athletes
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Sri Lankan Athletes (2024)
Go to all RankingsNatalia
HPI: 0.00
Mathilda Karlsson
HPI: 0.00
Yupun Abeykoon
1994 - Present
HPI: 0.00
Nimali Liyanarachchi
HPI: 0.00
