Sri Lankan javelin sensation Rumesh Tharanga produced a breathtaking throw of 89.37 metres at the Champions Track & Field Meet in Diyagama, shattering his own national record of 86.50m (subject to formal ratification).
The 22-year-old’s remarkable effort now ranks No. 1 in the world this season, eclipsing his previous best of 83.07m set earlier this year in Australia.
Widely regarded as Sri Lanka’s prime candidate for a global medal, Tharanga was a World Championship finalist last year — the first Sri Lankan athlete to reach that stage in 19 years, since Susanthika Jayasinghe’s 200m bronze in 2007.
At the Tokyo World Championships, Tharanga finished 7th, ahead of both the 2021 Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra (India) and the 2024 Olympic Champion Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan), underlining his credentials as a rising force in world athletics.