Ranathunga Karunananda

 

Undefeated Loser in Olympic History....

It is safe to say that the most ridiculed athlete in the history of the modern Olympic Games, which began in Athens, Greece in 1894, originated in Sri Lanka. Also, its most respected loser comes from Sri Lanka. More importantly, the two are one. He also received that ridicule and honor in as little as four minutes in a single day.

In the entire history of the Olympics, only two silver medals have been won for our country. Because of Duncan White and Susanthika Jayasinghe. The world also knows about Usain Bolt, Carl Luise and Michael Phelps. But many are unaware that our country has produced a more respected athlete than an Olympic gold medalist. That Ranatunga Karunananda is a little man.

The 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, brought fresh hope to Japan, which had lost World War II. Athletes from all over the world came to participate in the Games. A team of six players from Sri Lanka also participated in this event. Karunananda was part of that team as a 5000m and 10,000 m long distance runner.

Athletics events are held at the height of the Olympics. Accordingly, the 10,000-meter race began on the seventh day. The total number of rounds in the match was 25. Karunananda’s number 67 was clearly visible and he was far behind in the first round. In the first round, he was 200 meters behind the first. That gap widened further round by round. By the 20th round of the race, he was running as the last. By the final round, however, he was four laps 1600 meters behind the first. Simply put, most drivers have overtaken Karunananda more than four times.

The United States, Tunisia and Japan were vying for the victory. Crydaloline cheered and encouraged them. William Milas of the United States won the gold medal. At the same time, both the Tunisian and Japanese athletes ended their run by claiming the silver and bronze medals respectively. Many other athletes saw the result and left the track. At the same time the field was getting ready for the next match.

But the organizers did not get a chance. Something strange was happening on the track. No. 67, a hairy and small athlete, was running alone on the field. That Sri Lankan (Ceylon) player Karunananda. No one still knew what country he belonged to. More than a hundred thousand spectators began to laugh in contempt. Began to make fun of.Some went looking for empty bottles to throw at him. Karunananda was still running. The whole audience is now watching this funny event.

He advanced to the next round as if nothing had happened. The whole audience fell into a great silence. Karunananda is looking at the ground and running. Everyone else is staring at him in amazement. Such a thing has never happened before in the history of the Olympics or any other international sporting event.

One or two people started clapping. Gradually the applause began to increase. Then the whole audience roared and cheered. By the end of the round, hundreds of thousands of spectators rose from their seats to pay their respects to this brave young man. Many began to cry. They closed their wet eyes as if to apologize to the young man.
 

Four minutes ago, the loser, who was humiliated all over the world, finished the race like an undefeated hero, setting a new example to the world.

This was a strangely enjoyable experience for sports fans all over the world. Although he won the gold medal, American Milas later said that Karunananda was the real winner of the competition. The then Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan said that we have achieved a diplomatic victory that could not be achieved despite spending millions of dollars.

This was also a great example for Japan, which had been flattened by mistakes. They do not throw away anything of value to themselves. They even included the story of this courageous athlete in school textbooks as the “brave man”, the first lesson in the fifth grade curriculum in the country’s schools.

“We are not coming to victory, we are coming to an end,” he said.