Edward Sequeira who was popularly known as Eddie, excelled in 5000 meters race. He was noted as one of the most prolific and rhythmic middle distance runner.
Edward Sequeria was born on 6th February 1940 in Bombay now called Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra. Edward Sequeria in the early times studied at St. Paul`s High School. After that he joined in the Central Railways. He served for Central Indian Railways as a Mechanical apprentice.
The Sports were compulsory for the Indian Railway employees and Edward Sequeira proved a natural athlete, while he was doing the job as a Mechanic.
Edward Sequeria took up athletics seriously in 1959 and by 1963 had created new marks for the 800 and 1,500 at the Central Railway Meet.
Edward Sequeria then went on to repeat the performances at the Inter-Railway Meet in Delhi.
Edward Sequeria clocked 1:52.6 for the half mile and 3:49.4 for the 1,500 metres. His next step was the National titles and Edward Sequeria won both the events in the National Games. He from there was retaining his hold on the events from 1963 to 1973.
After that, Edward Sequeria set a new record in the 1500 metres in 1966, his time of 3.43.7 being even faster than the existing Asian mark. This record remained in the books for well over 35 years before Bahadur Prasad updated it during the Permit Meet in Delhi.
Edward Sequeria who is also known as Eddie began his long association with Tata Steel in 1964. From there he emerged as a national athlete, which proved very fruitful to him. His athletics career took an upswing and he became a permanent member of the Indian team. He represented the country against Russia in 1965. After that he went to the Commonwealth Games in Kingston in 1966. That year, he created the national mark in the 1,500 metres which was rich in athletic history.
The 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok proved to be a disaster for Edward Sequeria who was forced to retire when in full flight in the final matches of athletes. Edward Sequeria had obviously been pushed to have the fight well.
For this Edward Sequeria went to Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) for a dual meet and won the 1,500 metres and the next year. This he created a national mark for 14:38 in the 5000 metres in another such competition on the Ceylon tracks.
Edward Sequeria was captain of the Indian team to Malaysia and Singapore. He was also a member of the Asian team to West Germany. Then he went back to Bangkok for Games and wiped out bitter memories of the previous edition of the Games with a Silver Medal in the 5000 meters.
Edward Sequeria was coached by the German coach Otto Peitzer, himself a world record holder. Edward Sequeria went to Munich Olympics in 1972 where he finished 8th in the 5,000 meters.
An exceptional sportsman, Edward Sequeira contributed much to Indian athletics as a coach also. He attended a coaching conference in Tokyo in 1979. Edward Sequeria was also on the Committee of the Amateur Federation of India (AFI), an officer with Tata Iron and Steel Co Mumbai. Edward Sequeria was honoured by the Maharashtra Government Shivaji Chhatrapati Award. After that he was also awarded Arjuna Award which came to him in the year 1971.
In February 2010, Edward Sequeria was badly burned in a gas explosion.
