Dinesh Weerawansa (born 17 June 1966) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n editor-in chief for the

Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

. He returned as editor-in-chief of the Sunday Observer in December 2019 for his second term. He held the position previously for nine years from 2006 to 2015. At the Sunday Observer, he headed the editorial operation of Sri Lanka's oldest and largest circulated English newspaper - published by the

Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House, is a print media company in Sri Lanka. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil. Ass ...

. He had also functioned as chief editor of the Daily News (2018) and also as their associate editor and sports editor. He was a visiting lecturer at National Olympic Academy of Sri Lanka.D - DAY FOR SCHOOLBOY CRICKETERS
. Sunday Observer, Retrieved on 20 June 2010.

Early life and education

Weerawansa was born to W. Cosmas Damian (Teachers' Training College Lecturer) and Mercy Edna (English-trained teacher) on 17 June 1966 at Negombo, Sri Lanka. A Navodaya scholar, he was educated at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

- Senior College Prefect 1984/85 and Hostel Prefects' Advisor 1984/86. He then pursued further studies at the

Thomson Foundation The Thomson Foundation is a media development not-for-profit organisation based in London, United Kingdom but operating worldwide. It was founded in 1962 and was the first charitable foundation with the specific aim of training journalists in deve ...

in the UK, and graduated from 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).

Career

He is an honorary member of the

International Taekwon-Do Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by Choi Hong Hi () in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Korean martial art of ta ...

he has been Sri Lanka's prolific Sports Editor / sports journalist for over three and a half decades and is also the IAAF athletic correspondent for Sri Lanka. He is the most experienced and widely travelled sports writer in Sri Lanka who has covered a record seven editions of the Olympic Games (1992, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), 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 Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe (; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. She won the Olympic silver medal for t ...

winning the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games silver medal and 2007 World Championship bronze medal as well as

Damayanthi Darsha Deshabandu Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage (born 13 February 1975) is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. She is the current Asian Games record holder in women's 200m event and cur ...

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.

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 *XXX11 Olympic Games in Tokyo, 2020 *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

* Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, 2011 *President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

's state visit to Japan, 2007

References

External links

LakeHouse - officials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weerawansa, Dinesh Living people Sinhalese people Alumni of Royal College, Colombo National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Sri Lankan journalists 1966 births