The forty-year old previous record held by Rosa was set during the 1975 Fukuoka Marathon, when he clocked two hours 14 minutes and 31 seconds.

The Lankan star was placed 14th at the men’s London Marathon which Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge led a Kenyan clean sweep of the podium places. Kipchoge clocked an unofficial time of two hours, four minutes and 41 seconds to sprint clear of defending London champion Wilson Kipsang, with world record-holder Dennis Kimetto finishing third. This was Cooray’s third appearance at the prestigious London Marathon which saw over 35,000 competitors from every corner of the world in action.

Cooray managed to come 23rd out of 37,500 participants with a timing of two hours 17 minutes and 50 seconds at the 2012 Marathon and bettered his place the very next year by clocking two hours 17 minutes and 53 seconds to take the 14th slot.

He was unable to compete last year at the London Marathon due to his commitments towards the Asian games, but he secured the sixth place in the men’s marathon of the 17th Asian Games by returning a time of two hours, 15 minutes and 51 seconds to bring honour and fame to his country.