Remembering the legends:

Rajeeva - an outstanding disabled sportsman

It is time to remember athletes who brought honour and glory to Sri Lanka and it is for this purpose that Dialog Telekom in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Pubic Recreation pays tribute to over 200 athletes in over 15 disciplines on July 15 at the BMICH.

Dialog Telekom has been a prominent sponsor of Sri Lankan Sports and is committed to developing talent in Sri Lanka to international standards.

Rajeeva Wickramasinghe was 27 years old then and had a girlfriend waiting for him at home, when during operation ‘Lightning Strike’ in 1991, he became the victim of an anti-personnel mine in Welioya. He lost the lower part of his left leg and had to go for immediate amputation.

When he was being transported by chopper to hospital, more than his fate, his only thought was having to leave his colleagues on the battlefield to fight the war without him. He did not ask the question “why me?” It could have been worse as we could have lost his life.

Instead from the moment he was given a pneumatic limb for training purposes in the Military Hospital, he realized his true purpose in life. He was made the Officer-in-Charge for vocational training and sports in Ranawiru Sevana.

This is where sports became the greatest asset for him. He had been heavily involved in sports while at school. So doing sports as an amputee was not very difficult. Through archery, shooting, wheelchair tennis and badminton, he was able to rebuild his life instead of wallowing in self-pity.

As he puts it... “At Ranawiru Sevana I saw wounded soldiers crippled by depression. I wanted to be an example. And through the engagement of sports, I wanted them to know that they could restore their self-confidence. It was a different form of challenge to fighting on the battle field”.

This courage and perseverance won Rajeeva his first international medal in archery, a Bronze in January 2004 at the second Fespic Archery Championships in Malaysia. In the same year, at the Paralympics in Athens, he was placed IOth in archery.