Talavou conferred with the Duncan White Sports Excellence and Contribution Award

With the view of recognising those who have contributed to uplifting the sports arena in the country and in honouring their continued and relentless passion, the SILK SPORTS AWARDS held recently for the seventh consecutive year bestowed Talavou Alailima with the Duncan White Sports Excellence and Contribution Award.

This specific award is bestowed on those who have achieved the highest level of sports performances in Sri Lanka and have made a significant contribution to the nation with their socially impactful initiatives. Some of the past recipients included Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Dilantha Malagamuwa and Roshan Mahanama.

“First, I want to thank God for gracing my life with opportunities, which I know are not of me or any human hand and my beautiful wife Shehara and my sons Joshua, Jonathan and Jason, who gave me the wings to soar as eagles do. Life is about what we do for others and what we do for them is indispensable, important, and matters. What I have achieved, would not be possible, without all those who stood with me throughout the years both in my sports life and in all the social initiatives” said Talavou.

“I would like to therefore honour and thank my coaches, even though many are no more with us, Bandara, Lakshman Alwis, Junior Rodrigo, Thiagaraja, Peter Carroll, Wane Geltz and former record-holder and training partner Col. Ajith Jayakody. Doctors Thureraja, Seevali Jayawickrama, Thushara Matiwalage, Nishantha Gunasekara, Commissioners of Prisons Tissa Jayasinghe, Gamini Jayasinghe, Chandana Ekanayake, Pastor Rodney Periera, General Daya Ratnayake, Amantha Wejesuriya, Bandula Jayamanne and Maurice Jega.”

The 7th Silk Awards ceremony, was held on the 25 February at the National Film Corporation under the patronage of Cabinet Minister of Youth and Sports, Namal Rajapaksa.

Talavou is an NCAA All American Athlete award winner, an Asian Championships Diploma holder, a South Asian Games Medallist and a Sri Lanka record holder for the Shot Put and Discus throwing events for over 20 years and 14 years respectively. He has bettered the Sri Lanka record more times than any other athlete, in the history of Sri Lanka Track and Field and is the first Thrower to win a medal for Sri Lanka at an International Competition.

He has been the sports nutrition and strength training consultant for many Sri Lanka national teams, clubs, schools and champion sportsman for over 25 years and launched the first Track and Field Grand Prix in Sri Lanka, to push athletes to perform at the next level. His pioneering sports initiatives the Lion Warrior sports high-performance program, the SportUnleash sports talent identification algorithm for children, the Edge Sports Nutrition Supplement and the all-in-one Proxone app ecosystem have been invaluable contributions to Sri Lanka sports.

His social initiatives galvanised the residence of Colombo city, with his “Death to Dengue” effort to eradicate Dengue, and the setting up of gyms for the inmates of the Welikada Prison, Mahara Prison and the Bogambara Prison.

Talavou is a USA-qualified Strength Training and Sports Nutrition Consultant, educated at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania USA and holds a Master of Sports Management degree from the IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. He went on to pioneer the Sri Lankan fitness industry with the Power World Gyms chain, the market leader since 1994 and in 2018, Power World also became the largest chain of gyms in Delhi and Bangalore, India.