Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage won the men’s javelin at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on Sunday, throwing 91.09m in the final round to take the title.
The 23-year-old world No. 1 made a slow start. He opened at 75.89m while Germany’s Julian Weber moved straight into the lead with 84.09m, and Anderson Peters of Grenada took control in the second round with 86.18m. Tharanga answered with 85.69m, then improved to 87.11m in the third round to move into first place.
Throwing first in the fourth and final round, he produced the 91.09m effort that settled the competition. Peters finished with 82.63m from his last attempt and Weber with 78.75m. Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem managed a season’s best of 81.49m but fell outside the top four after three rounds.
According to the Daily Mirror, it is the first throw beyond 90 metres recorded in Hungary.
A season with one loss
The win is Tharanga’s 12th in 13 competitions this year. He had won 11 of 12 before arriving in Budapest, a run that included a world-leading 92.62m in Rome, a 92.07m victory at the Zurich Diamond League and the Diamond League Final title in Brussels — a first for a Sri Lankan athlete.
“This was my one and only goal – to bring the trophy back to Sri Lanka,” Tharanga said. “I faced a lot of challenges today but I was still hoping to win and I’m proud I did it.”
He also named his next target. “Sri Lankan athletes have won two Olympic medals so far and my next goal is to bring the Olympic gold medal home,” he said.
NewsFirst reported the same result, describing the Budapest meet as the inaugural edition of the championship.
His throws in Budapest: 75.89m, 85.69m, 87.11m, 91.09m.
Update (September 14): the government confirms the result
The government’s news service has confirmed the win, recording Tharanga’s 91.09m as first place in the men’s javelin in Budapest “last night (13)”. It gives his name as Rumesha Tharanga — a third spelling alongside the Daily Mirror’s “Pathirage” and NewsFirst’s “Tharanga”, all referring to the same athlete, Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage.
The event was the inaugural edition of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
