Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (born 21 March 2003) is a Sri Lankan javelin thrower. He won the gold medals at the 2026 Asian Games and 2026 Commonwealth Games, and the 2026 World Ultimate Championship and 2026 Diamond League titles.
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Early life
Rumesh was born on 21 March 2003 in Horana and studied at the Sri Palee College. Initially interested in cricket, as a teenager, he bowled at speeds of up to 134 km/h while representing the St. Peter's College, Colombo. His father, who was a discus and shot-put thrower, introduced him to athletics. He initially took up discus throw before switching to javelin throw in 2017.
Career
Rumesh made his international debut at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships in Hong Kong, where he finished sixth with a throw of 61.62 m. Later at the 2022 World U20 Championships in Cali, he placed seventh with a 69.98 m throw.
He began to be coached in Australia under Mike and Kelsey Barber at the Queensland Institute of Sport. He won the 2024 Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, with a personal best of 85.45 m.
In March 2025, he threw 85.41 m to win the Perth Track Classic. He placed fourth at the 2025 Asian Championships in Gumi, with a throw of 83.37 m. In July, he won the bronze medal at the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru with a throw of 84.34 m. In August, he became the Sri Lankan National champion in with a throw of 82.40 m in Diyagama. That month, he set a new Sri Lankan national record with a throw of 86.50 m whilst competing at the 2025 Indian Open, a WACT Bronze meet in Bhubaneswar, to break the previous best mark set by Sumeda Ranasinghe. He also retained his title at the 2025 Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, with a throw of 82.05 m. At the 2025 World Championships, he finished 12th in the qualification round with a throw of 82.80 m and became the first-ever Sri Lankan javelin thrower to qualify for the finals, where he placed seventh with a throw of 84.38 m.
On 14 February 2026, he threw 83.07 m to retain his title at the Perth Track Classic. The following month, he set a new national record with a throw of 89.37 m at the Champions Track & Field Meet in Diyagama. On 24 April, he set a new meeting record of 89.28 m at the Kip Keino Classic. On 31 May, he threw 85.97 m to finish runner-up at the 2026 Meeting de Rabat. On 4 June, he won with a throw of 92.62 m at the 2026 Golden Gala. It was the furthest throw anywhere in the world since the 2024 Olympics, and moved him to eighth on the world all-time list. This performance sets a new meet record, national record, and world-leading mark for the season to date, as well as a personal best. On 16 June, he threw 86.57 m to win at the Golden Spike Ostrava, and on 19 June threw 88.68 m to win at the 2026 Doha Diamond League. On 31 July, he won the gold medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 89.75 m. Competing at the 2026 Athletissima on 21 August, he won with his throw of 88.14 m to beat Neeraj Chopra by nine centimetres. On 27 August, he threw 92.07 m to win the 2026 Weltklasse Zürich. On 5 September, he won the 2026 Memorial Van Damme with a third-attempt throw of 89.04 m, becoming the first Sri Lankan athlete to win a Diamond League final. It was his twelfth victory in thirteen events. On 13 September, he won the inaugural World Ultimate Championship title in Budapest, with a throw of 91.09 m– the first 90 m throw ever achieved in Hungary. He received a special trophy and a prize money of USD 150,000. On 28 September, he won the gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, with a best effort of 88.55 m.