Canagasabai Kunalan (born 23 October 1942), known as C. Kunalan, is a retired

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an sprinter,

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

runner, former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, widely regarded as one of Singapore's greatest ever athletes. Named Sportsman of the Year in both 1968 and 1969, his feat of 10.38 seconds in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

was a national record that stood for 33 years.

Career

Runner

Kunalan first came into running in 1963, at the age of 20. Formerly a football player, Kunalan switched to running when his PE teacher commended him for his fast-moving legs after noticing him running while chasing the ball. He participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics as part of the Malaysian 4 × 100 m relay team with Malaysian sprint legend

Mani Jegathesan Jegathesan Manikavasagam (born 2 November 1943), is often referred to as the ''Flying Doctor of Malaysia'' for his athletic achievements in Asia, despite being firstly a medical student then a doctor. He was an icon in the 1960s, regarded as t ...

, and subsequently represented Singapore after it left the federation. Kunalan has participated in two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

( Tokyo, 1964 and Mexico City, 1968) and has earned five

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

and fifteen

Southeast Asian Peninsular Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

medals. He had to retire in 1979 due to a heel injury.

Educator

C Kunalan taught six years in Tiong Bahru Primary School and thirteen years in Dunearn Secondary Technical School before joining the

National Institute of Education The National Institute of Education (NIE) is an autonomous institute of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Ranked 10th in the world and 2nd in Asia by the QS World University Rankings in the subject of Education and Trainin ...

in 1980. Kunalan became an assistant professor there. He specialized in functional anatomy and exercise

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

, and conducted practical classes in fitness and conditioning. Kunalan left the institute in 2010. He was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

in 2015 as part of the National Day Awards.

Singapore Athletic Association

He also serves as Vice Principal (Training and Selection) with the Singapore Athletic Association.

SYOGOC

Kunalan was one of the 23 members of the

Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) is the organisation in charge of organising the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games. A selection process to determine the members of the games' organising committee commenced soon aft ...

(SYOGOC).

Personal life

Kunalan is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunalan, C 1942 births Living people Singaporean male sprinters Olympic athletes for Singapore Olympic athletes for Malaysia Singaporean people of Tamil descent Singaporean people of Indian descent Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Singapore Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games People from Singapore Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Singapore Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore SEA Games medalists in athletics SEA Games silver medalists for Singapore SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Competitors at the 1977 SEA Games The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)