Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga smashed Indian javelin ace’s record for the best throw in 2025 at the Perth Track Classic held in Australia.
He grabbed the headlines with a throw of 85.41m in the men’s javelin event. Earlier in February, Sachin Yadav threw the spear to 84.39m to set a meet record at the National Games 2025.
Japan’s Rin Suzuki took home the silver medal with a throw of 81.23m while his compatriot Yuta Sakiyama (80.86m) finished third.
Tharanga, however, missed the World Athletics qualification mark by 9 cms.
Courtesy: Ceylon Athletics
The 21-year-old had missed a qualification to Paris 2024 by 5cm. He is the fourth from Sri Lanka to breach the 80m mark.
Talking about his formative years, the youngster told themorning.lk, “I first got my hands into athletics in 2011 when I was studying in grade 5 in my first school Horana Sripalee National College.
“I won first place in the All Island School Games in the 75 metre event that year. I also played cricket and was named the Vice Captain of the Kalutara District team. I achieved 42 metres in the javelin throw at the 2017 Junior Sir John Tarbet Athletics Championships.
“After that performance, Coach Tony Prasanna paved the way for me to enter St. Peter’s College, Colombo. I also did the discus throw event in 2017. Then in the year 2022, I retired from the discus throw event. Since then, I have been completely involved in javelin throw as my event.”
He is also a part of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
“I get a lot of support from my mother, father, sister and all other family members. And my coach Tony Prasanna.
“From my childhood, I was well trained by him and brought to a good place where I am today and I have many accolades thanks to the great guidance. Also, almost a year has passed since I joined the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). Within this period, I got a lot of support from the SLAF,” he added.