The concept of an outdoor sporting stadium was initially raised by V. A. Sugathadasa, the Mayor of Colombo (1956–57, 1963–65), the country's first Minister of Sports (1966–70) and Chairman of the National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee.

[3] Construction of the stadium commenced on 16 January 1957 and was completed on 16 December 1962.

[6] In 1991, an indoor stadium was constructed on the site by the Mitsui Company for the 1991 South Asian Games, and was opened by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

The 1991 and 2006 South Asian Games were held in Sugathadasa Stadium.

[7][8] In 2017 the Minister of Sports, Dayasiri Jayasekara, announced the track would be relaid and was expected to open back to athletes in December 2017.