Career
Esajas missed the event, and it was alleged that he overslept it, whereas he was simply given a wrong starting time by Fred Glans, the head of Suriname"s Olympic delegation. Esajas was a multiple national record holder in the 800 m, 1500 m and 3000 m events in the 1950s, and was selected as the Surinamese Sportman of the Year 1956. He retired from sport after the 1960 Olympics, graduated in horticulture from a college in Deventer, the Netherlands, and returned to Suriname to grow flowers.
In 2005, Suriname"s Olympic Committee presented Esajas with a plaque honoring him as Suriname"s first Olympian and with a letter of apology for the mistake made by its official in 1960.
Esajas died two weeks later of an uncertain illness.