Lucien Rosa

Sellappuliyage Lucian Benedict Rosa (better known as SLB Rosa, born February 11, 1944) is a former Sri Lankan long-distance runner. He represented Sri Lanka at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany.[1][2] He is best known for running barefooted and winning a 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres double at the 1970 Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand. His performance in 10,000 metres was also an Asian Games record.

Lucien Rosa
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Sri Lanka
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place1970 Bangkok5000 m
Gold medal – first place1970 Bangkok10,000 m
Bronze medal – third place1966 Bangkok5000 m
Bronze medal – third place1966 Bangkok10,000 m

At the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1966, he won the bronze medal in both 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. His personal best performance in the 10,000 metres, 29:18.0 minutes, still stands as the Sri Lankan national record since 1975. Born in Kandy, Rosa started his athletic career at Roman Catholic School, Ampitiya. Later he joined the Army and continued to pursue athletics. He led the Sri Lankan team in the 1972 Olympics but could not compete in the 1976 edition due to Sri Lanka boycotting the Montreal Olympics.[1][3] He was in Ceylon Olympic squad in 1968 but country sent only a three-man team, which did not include Lucian, to Mexico due to financial difficulties.[4]

Rosa is a University of Wisconsin–Parkside Hall of Famer, and a men's cross-country and track coach from 1977-2007.[5][6] Lucian Rosa Invitational is named after him.[5]

References
  1. "SLB Rosa: Sri Lanka's bare-footed wonder boy". Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  2. Lucien Rosa. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-04-30.
  3. "The Island".
  4. "The Untold Story of Lucian Rosa - University of Wisconsin-Parkside Star Denied Chance in 1976 Olympic Marathon". 20 August 2016.
  5. "University of Wisconsin Parkside Rangers - Rangers Host Lucian Rosa Invite". www.parksiderangers.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17.
  6. "Hall of Fame Members".


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