Published
17 hours agoon
Sri Lanka’s Omar Hazari has won the English-Speaking Union International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC) 2026, earning the country its second consecutive title at the prestigious global contest.
The 19-year-old, representing Royal College, Colombo, won the final held in London with a speech inspired by his own experience of childhood bullying. He spoke about overcoming a severe stutter with the support of others and later launching an anti-bullying campaign at his school that has reached more than 3,000 students.
The IPSC brings together national champions from 45 countries and regions and is regarded as the world’s largest public speaking competition, involving more than 100,000 students each year. Sri Lanka also won the 2025 title through Sashane Dassanayake.