Sri Lanka's fast-bowling dropout Rumesh Pathirage joins 90m javelin club

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage stunned the javelin world on Thursday, hurling 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League to announce a new order in the sport. The 23-year-old Sri Lankan became only the fourth Asian to cross the magical 90m mark in men's javelin, joining Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-Tsun (91.36m), Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem (92.97m) and India's Neeraj Chopra (90.23m) in rarefied company. His throw is the 21st best in the history of the event — a list topped by Jan Zelezny, once Neeraj's coach, who hurled 98.48m in 1996. Read Full Story WHERE RUMESH’S 92.62M THROW STANDS A new Sri Lankan national record World-leading throw of 2026 in men’s javelin Rome Diamond League meet record Second-best throw by an Asian in history 21st-best throw in the history of men’s javelin Rumesh had arrived in Rome with momentum. He had set a world-leading mark of 89.37m in Diyagama in March, and came agonisingly close to the 90m barrier at the Champions Track and Field event at the same venue. In Rome, against a strong ten-man field missing both Arshad and Neeraj, he unleashed the meet record in his second attempt. Four fouls followed, but none of the other nine throwers could reach 85m. world champion Anderson Peters finished second with 83.89m. India's Sachin Yadav, fourth at last year's World Championships in Tokyo, had a difficult Diamond League debut, managing 79.18m — well below his personal best of 86.27m. WHO IS RUMESH PATHIRAGE? Throwing might have been in his blood, but like most Sri Lankan teenagers, Rumesh first fell in love with cricket. At under-18 level, he was already hurling the ball at 134 kilometres per hour — lithe, raw, and competitive. In a nationwide fast-bowling talent hunt that had once identified future Sri Lanka international Ehsan Malinga, Rumesh finished second-fastest in his category. In his only competitive outing for St Peter's College, Colombo, he took five wickets and scored a half-century in the same match. He chose a different runway. "In cricket, there is political involvement, there is intense competition," he has said. "Cricket is a team sport. It takes a lot more than just talent to make it to the national team. But in javelin, if I have talent, I will be recognised." He began throwing in 2017, guided by his father, a discus and shot-put athlete. His first javelin throw measured 30m. Within two months, he was at 63m. The ascent has been steady and purposeful. He threw 85.45m at the Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo in 2024. In early 2025, he finished third at the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru with 84.34m — standing on the same podium as his boyhood idol, former Olympic champion Thomas Rhler. A month later, he threw 86.50m in Bhubaneswar to break the Sri Lankan national record and qualify directly for the World Championships in Tokyo, where he finished sixth with 84.38m, above an injured Neeraj. Neeraj has been more than a rival. It was he who invited Rumesh to Bengaluru, pushed him to throw further, and — noticing the younger man hesitating before cameras — offered quiet counsel: "Speak as much as you can in English. I learnt it this way. You'll be at many more podiums, so speak without fear." That prophecy has aged well. In Rome on Thursday, Rumesh let the spear fly and rewrote Asian history. Ends