Businessman Dudley Sirisena, chairman of the Araliya Group, has pledged to supply javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga with world-class javelins almost every year until the athlete wins an Olympic gold medal for Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday evening.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Sirisena said he had spoken to Tharanga’s coach, Tony Prasanna, and that the equipment would come in addition to the javelin already provided by the government through the intervention of the Sports Minister.
Sirisena said neither he nor Araliya would seek sponsorship branding or any other commercial benefit in return. He described Tharanga as one of the brightest stars to emerge in Sri Lankan athletics in recent years, and said local entrepreneurs had a responsibility to help nurture talented athletes.
“Until the dream of an Olympic gold medal becomes a reality, we — as a nation — must stand by Rumesh and ensure he is fully supported,” he said.
The pledge follows the loss of his competition set
The offer comes four days after Tharanga returned from Budapest to find all five of his competition javelins damaged in transit, equipment the athlete valued at about Rs. 2 million. The implements included those he used for his 92.07m throw in Zurich and his 91.09m win in Budapest.
Turkish Airlines has since accepted that the damage occurred aboard the aircraft and agreed to an internal investigation, a damage assessment and compensation, following a meeting at the Civil Aviation Authority on 15 September. No compensation figure has been made public.
The 2026 Asian Games begin on 19 September. No outlet has said whether a replacement set — from the government, from Sirisena, or from both — will reach Tharanga before he competes.
He remains world No. 1, but the order behind him has changed
Separately, Tharanga has retained the top position in the world javelin rankings released on Wednesday, Hiru News reported.
The list places Anderson Peters of Grenada second and Julian Weber of Germany third. That is a change from the standings three weeks ago, when Weber sat second, 21 points behind Tharanga — Peters has since moved ahead of him.
Hiru did not publish the points totals for any of the three, so the size of Tharanga’s current lead is not on the record.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives the number or value of the javelins Sirisena has promised, when the first will be delivered, or whether they are intended to replace the damaged set before the Asian Games. Sirisena’s statement was posted to Facebook and has not been the subject of a press conference; Tharanga, his coach and the Sports Ministry have not publicly responded to it.
