Deshamanya Duncan White, Major Major Deshamanya Duncan White, MBE, ED (March 1, 1918 – July 3, 1998) was a Sri Lankan athlete. He was Ceylon's first Olympic medalist, taking silver in the 400-meter hurdles in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.
He attended St. Peter's College, Colombo and then went on to study economics at Oxford University. After graduating, he worked as an accountant for Price Waterhouse before turning to full-time athletics in 1945. In 1947, he married Jane Wightman with whom he had three children.
In 1951, White joined the staff of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) as its financial secretary. He held this post until 1975 when he returned to Sri Lanka to work as an accountant for John de Silva & Sons Ltd. He later became involved in politics, serving as an elected member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1994.
Major Major Deshamanya Duncan White was born on 1 March 1918 in Kandy, Ceylon. His father, Major Duncan White, was a British civil servant who had been sent by his government to set up a police college in Kandy. When Sir Malcolm Arnold, the head of the college, died under mysterious circumstances, Major Duncan White took over as acting director until he could be replaced by a new appointee.
Kirani James (born September 1, 1992) is a sprinter from Grenada who specializes in the 200 and 400 meters. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011 and the Olympics in London in 2012. He holds the distinction of being Grenada's first and only Olympic medalist.
James competed as a member of the Grenada national team at the 2008 and 2012 Games. The 2008 team finished last in its pool with no medals awarded. At the 2012 Games, James won the gold medal in the 400-meter race.
He became the first person from his country to win an Olympic medal when he beat American LaShawn Merritt by 0.4 seconds into their 100-meter semifinal on Thursday. The 21-year-old James then went on to win the 400-meter final later in the day. "I'm very happy, it's unbelievable," said James. "I came here to represent my country and I did that."
Merritt has been nominated for a silver medal. The American team was defeated by Russia in the quarterfinals of the men's 4 x 400 meter relay event.
James' father, Bruce, told Reuters that he believed his son would win another medal before retiring. "Two more and he'll be done," said Bruce James. "That's what I want him to do - go out on a high note."
Wint Wint earned Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres (46.2 seconds) and a silver medal in the 800 metres at the 1948 London Games. He had already been awarded the country's highest honor, the Order of Merit.
How did Wint win both medals? He ran in both events and was declared the winner after the second race. His time in the second race was enough for him to take home a silver medal.
Jamaica has never won a gold medal in the Olympics since then. The best it has done is two silver and one bronze medal.
Why do you think that is? There may be several reasons for this. First, despite having a population of only about 1 million people, Jamaica hosts many high-quality athletes who compete in various sports at the Olympics. It also receives financial support from its government which helps it train new athletes and develop sport facilities.
However, most countries with smaller populations have been able to achieve more success than Jamaica. This may be because they put more effort into training their athletes and creating an environment where talent can grow.
Bertland "Bert" Cameron won the 400 m Commonwealth title and was named Jamaica Sportsman of the Year. The inaugural World Athletics Championships were held in 1983. This provided additional opportunity for Jamaican athletes to win significant gold. Bert Cameron was the inaugural 400-meter World Champion. Merlene Ottey won silver in the 200 m as well. Bob Lambert took home a bronze in the 4x400 m relay.
Cameron was a successful hurdler before taking up track and field. He had already represented Jamaica at two Olympics when he went to his third game in Moscow, Russia, in 1980. There he became the first man to run under 51 seconds in the 400 m hurdles. The following year he won the gold medal at the 1981 World Championships in Helsinki with a time of 55 seconds.
After these successes, Cameron decided to switch to track and field. At the 1982 British Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Canada, he won both the 400 m and 800 m races, setting new games records along the way. This made him the first man to win back-to-back titles in the same event.
In 1983, he went to his third consecutive Games in Los Angeles. This time he won the gold medal in the 400 m contest with a new national record of 49 seconds. The next year he added another title in the 800 m race with a new games record of 1:45.76 minutes.
Khashaba was the first individual athlete from independent India to win an Olympic medal, succeeding Norman Pritchard, who won two silver medals in athletics under colonial India in 1900. Prior to Khashaba, India had only won gold medals in field hockey, a team sport.
India has not been very successful in individual sports events at the Olympics. To date they have won one silver and three bronze medals. The sole silver medal was won by Khashaba, while the three bronze medals were won by Indian athletes Shiva Burman in 1980, Anita De Jong in 1984, and Saina Nehwal in 2012.
India first participated in the Olympics in 1948, when they sent a total of 11 athletes to London. They returned with just one winner, boxing star Muhammad Ali. India has never reached the final stage of any event at the Olympics.
In 1952 India decided to send only male athletes to Helsinki because there were no female facilities in India at that time. However, two female athletes did travel to Finland but they did not compete because of lack of funding. In 2008 India again failed to send any female athletes due to lack of funding.
In 1960 India sent five athletes to Rome including tennis players Mohammed Waqas Khan and Ramanathan Krishnan. All of them except for Krishnan finished up their careers as international-level athletes. He died during training for the Moscow Games.
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