Dinesh Weerawansa

Dinesh Weerawansa (born 17 June 1966) has once again returned as Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Observer from December 2019 for his second term. He held the same position for nine years from 2006 to 2015, heading the editorial operation of Sri Lanka's oldest English newspaper which has the largest circulation - published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. He had also functioned as Chief Editor of Daily News (2018) and also Associate Editor/ Sports Editor of the Daily News and a visiting lecturer at National Olympic Academy of Sri Lanka.[1][2]

Dinesh Weerawansa
Born (1966-06-17) June 17, 1966
Negombo, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
Alma materRoyal College Colombo,
Thomson Foundation,UK
University of Athens
OccupationEditor-in-Chief, Sunday Observer /
Former Chief Editor
Daily News (Sri Lanka)
Spouse(s)Shashithanganee Weerawansa, Senior Lecturer (Dept of Economics, University of Colombo)
ChildrenOshari Esanjana (Visakha Vidyalaya) and Pansiluni Hasanjana (St. Bridget's Convent)

Early life

Weerawansa was born to the late W. Cosmas Damian (Teachers' Training College Lecturer) and late Mercy Edna (English Trained teacher) on 17 June 1966 at Negombo, Sri Lanka. A Navodaya scholar, he was educated at the Royal College, Colombo - Senior College Prefect 1984/85 and Hostel Prefects' Advisor 1984/86. He then pursued further studies at the Thomson Foundation, UK, and the International Olympic Academy (IOA), affiliated to the University of Athens.. In 1994, he was selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan to represent Sri Lanka at the South Asian Youth Exchange program. Only Sri Lankan media personality to be trained in the world-renowned IOA in Athena, Greece. Holds a diploma in sports leadership conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He is honorary member of the International Taekwon-Do Federation he has been Sri Lanka’s prolific Sports Editor / sports journalist for nearly three decades and is also the IAAF athletic correspondent for Sri Lanka and he is the most experienced and travelled sports writer in Sri Lanka who has covered six editions of the Olympic Games (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016), eight IAAF World Athletic Championships (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015) and six Asian Games (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014).

Weerawansa has covered many milestone events in Sri Lanka sport, including Susanthika Jayasinghe winning the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games silver medal and 2007 World Championship bronze medal as well as Damayanthi Darsha and Sugath Tillakaratne winning gold medals for Sri Lanka (3) after 25 years at 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. He had also served as a radio and television commentator at several international events, including Olympic Games, Asian Games, South Asian Games and Test/ ODI international cricket matches and represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Sports Press Union Congress in Seoul in 1990 and 1992 and South Asian Sports Association in Dhaka, 1993 - was elected Chairman of its Cricket Commission.

Family

He is married to Shashithanganee Kumari Weerawansa (Senior Lecturer, University of Colombo / Economist) and has two daughters Oshari Esanjana (Visakha Vidyalaya) and Pansiluni Hasanjana (St. Bridget's Convent)

International assignments as a media personality & Sports assignments
  • XXVth Olympic Games in Barcelona, 1992
  • XXV11 Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000
  • XXV111 Olympic Games in Athens, 2004
  • XX1X Olympic Games in Beijing, 2008
  • XXX Olympic Games in London, 2012
  • XXX1 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, 2016
  • 8th IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, 2001
  • 9th IAAF World Championships in Paris-Saint Dennis, 2003
  • 10th IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, 2005
  • 11th IAAF World Championships in Osaka, 2007
  • 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin, 2009
  • 13th IAAF World Championships in Daegu, 2011
  • 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow, 2013
  • 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, 2015
  • 11th Asian Games in Hiroshima, 1994
  • 12th Asian Games in Bangkok, 1998
  • 13th Asian Games in Busan, 2002
  • 14th Asian Games in Doha, 2006
  • 15th Asian Games in Guangzhou, 2010
  • 16th Asian Games in Incheon, 2014
  • Asian Athletic Championships in Manila, 1993
  • South Asian Games in Dhaka, 1993
  • Asian Athletic Grand Prix Manila, 2007

General assignments

References
  1. President Rajapaksa’s sustained passion with sports Archived 2014-08-19 at the Wayback Machine. Daily News, Retrieved on 4 February 2014.
  2. D - DAY FOR SCHOOLBOY CRICKETERS Archived 2012-11-27 at the Wayback Machine. Sunday Observer, Retrieved on 20 June 2010.
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