Lakruwan Wijesiri wins Bronze at South Asian Games

Triathlete Lakruwan Wijesiri has once more done Sri Lanka and the Foundation proud by winning bronze at the 2016 South Asian Games held in Guwarti, India. Lakruwan was a member of the four person National Team participating in the Mixed Team Triathlon event at the Games and this occasion marks the realization of one of his biggest dreams.

Lakruwan is a well-known figure at the FoG and Sports Academy, being one of our biggest success stories after graduating from our own humble Bryan Adams Pool Complex to the international arena where he has been making his mark in a field that is still very alien to the average Sri Lankan.

Lakruwan practiced his running along village roads and cycled using his old family bicycle which had no gears, and only had formal training in swimming (which he received at the FoG Sports Academy) when he entered his first triathlon in 2011. Loving Trinco (2011) was the very first triathlon competition to be held in Sri Lanka and by pure talent alone, Lakruwan won 1st place at the event, a position he maintained in 2012 as well. He also entered the Carlton Super Cross events in 2012, 2013 and 2014 placing 5th in 2012 and then becoming the overall champion in the two following years.

Realising that Lakruwan had peaked within the local circuit, the Foundation of Goodness was keen to see Lakruwan participate in international competitions. His very first international event was the Cold Storage International Triathlon in Singapore where he placed 4th over 500 international participants. This was an eye opening event for everyone involved, not only in realizing the level of Lakruwan’s abilities, but also in understanding the handicap created by the lack of professional training.

Lakruwan himself was understanding the need for a tri-suit for the very first time. Used to running in a t-shirt and swim trunks, he realized he was losing precious time and speed because of these encumbrances and FoG was quick to acquire a tri-suit for him, as well as to enroll him in training at the MetaSports Academy in Singapore.

We were extremely lucky to have Mr. Mohan Chandramohan from USA come forward to sponsor his specialized training at MetaSport which played a key role in the great advances Lakruwan has continued to make in his performance at international competitions.

Since the Cold Storage triathlon, Lakruwan was gone on to participate in the Bintan International Triathlon, Indonesia (2nd place in his age category) in 2014 as well as the Kenyir Lake International Triathlon, Malaysia (1st place in age category), Singapore International Triathlon, Singapore (2nd place in Sprint Distance) and the Ironman 70.3 Bintan, Indonesia (4th place at Half Iron Man in age category) in 2015. A big thank you also goes out to Sri Lankan Airlines for sponsoring his flights to these events.

In 2016, Lakruwan finally had the opportunity to realise one of his longstanding goals- that of representing Sri Lanka. It was an incredible moment for everyone who had been a part of Lakruwan’s journey so far to learn of his selection to the National triathlon relay team participating in the Asian Games. Mr. Chandramohan even purchased a brand new racing bike for him for the event.

Lakruwan and the triumphant Sri Lankan team were able to secure bronze at the Mixed Team Triathlon event in Guwarti, India, adding their medals to the collection of Sri Lankan wins. The Sri Lankan team won Bronze with a time of one hour 32 minutes and 5 seconds. The mixed relay was first introduced to the South Asian Games in 2014 and this is the first time Sri Lanka has participated or placed in a triathlon event at these games.

A big congratulations goes out to Lakruwan and his team mates, and we hope that he will one day be able to accomplish his greatest dream of participating in the Olympics. Meanwhile our heartfelt thanks goes out to all of Lakruwan’s sponsors and well-wishers, Mr. Chandramohan, Sri Lankan Airlines, Mr. Rohan Gunaratne, Carlton Walker & Family, Viji Wickramasinghe & family and his Coach Shem from MetaSport. Without you, none of this would have been made possible!

23rd March 2016