Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who this week became the world’s top-ranked men’s javelin thrower, has described the improvised and at times hazardous route that took him there, in an interview with the Daily Mirror published a day after the ranking was confirmed.
Speaking to the paper’s Callistus Davy, Pathirage said he drove a small delivery truck through the night towards Ampara during the Covid-19 pandemic after its driver fell asleep at the wheel, and encountered wild elephants on the road more than once. He was travelling to train: his father, Thushara Pathirage, was serving in the Eastern Province with the police Special Task Force, and the athlete found space and encouragement to work there during the period of isolation.
The cricketer who changed sports
Pathirage began at Sri Palee College in Horana, where he says he volunteered for every sport going from an early age.
“You name the sport and I was ready for any kind of action,” he told the Daily Mirror, describing himself as a restless and headstrong child who believed success meant taking on every challenge.
He was a fast bowler and a capable batter, and once made a century against Royal College in an under-15 match. St. Peter’s College in Colombo recruited him at 15 — not for cricket, but because coach Tony Prasanna saw an Olympic prospect and alerted the school’s rector, Fr. Trevor Martin. He took up the javelin there.
After leaving school he came under the wing of the Foundation of Goodness, headed by former Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kushil Gunasekera.
”Money and glory should not be the concern”
Now a sergeant in the Sri Lanka Air Force, Pathirage said recognition had not changed him and that he tours with the Foundation of Goodness scouting for athletes.
“Money and glory should not be the concern, but having the right environment,” he said. “Being a role model to others and doing what I can for my country while changing everything that needs to be changed is what matters.”
Pathirage took the world No. 1 ranking on Thursday, after winning Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow and being promoted to sergeant on his return home.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
