Duncan White
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| Full name | Duncan M. White | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
1 March 1918 Lathpandura, Kalutara, Basnahira, Sri Lanka |
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| Died | 3 July 1998 (aged 80) Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Great Britain |
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Medal record
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Updated on 22 June 2015 Military career |
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| Allegiance |
 Ceylon
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| Service/branch |
Ceylon Defense Force, Ceylon Army |
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| Rank | Major | ||||||||||||||||||
| Unit | Ceylon Light Infantry | ||||||||||||||||||
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Updated on 22 June 2015
Major Deshamanya Duncan White, MBE, ED (Sinhala: ඩන්කන් වයිට්) (1 March 1918 – 3 July 1998) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He was also the only South Asian to have won an Olympic medal in track and field for more than fifty years.
White was born on 1 March 1918 in Lathpandura, near Kalutara, in British Ceylon, the second of four children of John Bernard White and Cecilia Hawk White, descended from principally British lineage. He had three brothers, Frederick A. White, also an athlete, Stanley Leonard White and Douglas Andrew White (died 1960). He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy where he was awarded 'Trinity Lion' for athletics; however, this was subsequently withdrawn for disciplinary reasons. He left Trinity in 1937.
He took part in 400-yard hurdles at the 1938 British Empire Games and became champion at national public schools championships, Ceylon championships and India-Ceylon championships. In 1942, with the on set of World War II, White was commissioned as an officer in the Ceylon Light Infantry. He was demobilized in 1947. He later joined the Ceylon Volunteer Force, going on to become a Major and gaining the Efficiency Decoration.
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