BUDAPEST WAS LUCKY #13 for Rumesh Pathirage as the Sri Lanka breakthrough star of ’26 took the sport’s richest prize with a throw of 298-10 (91.09).
It was his third meet over 91 meters this year — or the slightly shorter 298-feet if you prefer — and emphasized his place as the #1 man of the moment in his event. His ’26 record is now 12 wins in 13 outings.
However, as befitting a meet that was designed to bring together the best of the best, the contest was far from dominated by Pathirage until he unleashed his monster effort in the last round.
European champion Julian Weber, of Germany, was the first man to throw in the opening rotation and reached 275-10 (84.09) while Pathirage could only respond with a modest 248-11 (75.89).
Weber improved to 281-9 (85.89) with his second attempt only to see Grenada’s two-time world champion Anderson Peters take over the lead with 282-9 (86.18) on the very next throw.
With Peters the only man to have defeated Pathirage this year, at the Rabat DL back in May, motivation had been served up. Pathirage noticeably started to get into his groove and sent his implement out to 281-1 (85.69).
The Sri Lankan finally edged into the lead in the third stanza with 285-9 (87.11) but was still within reach of his rivals before clinching victory with 298-10 on his final effort, farther than anyone else has thrown this year.
Curiously, as was noted by bystanders, with the Ultimate host nation’s great historic legacy in the javelin and 134 previous meets globally where 90 meters had been seen, it was the first time that distance had been reached in Hungary.
Pathirage commented, “This was my one and only goal, to bring the trophy back to Sri Lanka. I faced a lot of challenges today, but I was still hoping to win and I’m proud I did it.”
He added, “I was never thinking about the prize money and I don’t have any idea yet how I will spend it. Sri Lankan athletes have won two Olympic medals so far [two silvers, the last being Susanthika Jayasinghe in the women’s 200 back in 2000] and my next goal is to bring an Olympic gold medal home.”
If he succeeds, the medallion will be Sri Lanka’s first ever in any sport.
Neither Peters nor Weber could improve over the final two rounds so took 2nd and 3rd with their second throws.
Pakistan’s ’24 Olympic champ, Arshad Nadeem, still recovering from injury problems, finished 5th and didn’t make the final-round cut although he threw a season’s best of 267-4 (81.49).
For spear-throwing aficionados, the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in 2 weeks’ time could be worth a watch. Pathirage is slated to go up against Nadeem as well as a trio of top Indian throwers who have all thrown over 85 meters this year.
India’s ’21 Olympic gold medalist, Neeraj Chopra, was a late withdrawal from Budapest after tearing an ankle ligament in training.
UC MEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
(September 13)
1. Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SrL) 298-10 (91.09)
(248-11, 281-1, 285-9, 298-10) (75.89, 85.69, 87.11, 91.09)
2. Anderson Peters (Grn) 282-9 (86.18)
(263-1, 282-9, 276-1, 271-1) (80.18, 86.18, 84.15, 82.63)
3. Julian Weber (Ger) 281-9 (85.89)
(275-10, 281-9, 258-8, 258-4) (84.09, 85.89, 78.84, 78.75)
4. Keshorn Walcott (Tri) 270-4 (82.41)
(250-9, 270-4, 268-11, f) (76.44, 82.41, 81.97, f)
5. Arshad Nadeem (Pak) 267-4 (81.49)
6. Julius Yego (Ken) 263-2 (80.23)
7. Dawid Wegner (Pol) 253-3 (77.21)
8. Curtis Thompson (US) 248-8 (75.80).
