Tharanga’s record-breaking feat among top ten in the world this season

by Reemus Fernando

Rumesh Tharanga’s gold winning effort in the men’s javelin throw at the Asian Throwing Championship on Saturday is ranked among the top ten throws in the world this season according to World Athletics statistics.His 85.45 metres performance is the ninth furthest throw in the world this season, though it fell just five centimetres short of the direct Olympic qualifying standard (85.50m).

The former St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya athlete trained by Tony Prasanna established a new meet record in winning the gold medal, while former national record holder in the javelin throw Sumeda Ranasinghe settled for bronze with a feat of 77.57 metres.

With his massive feat Tharanga has became the fourth Sri Lankan athlete to clear the 80 metres barrier. Apart from Tharanga and Sumeda, former national record holder Waruna Lakshan and Sampath Ranasinghe are the only other Sri Lankans to have cleared the magical 80 metres mark.

The Asian Throwing Championship held in Mopok, South Korea was a highly successful outing for Sri Lanka as the team bagged three medals. Dilhani Lekamge who is the highest ranked Sri Lankan athlete (30) in the women’s category in the ‘Road to Paris 24’ Olympic rankings won the bronze medal with a feat of 57.94 metres in the women’s javelin throw.

Tharanga and fellow javelin throwers have two more local competitions including the National Championship to vie for Olympic qualification before the June 30th deadline.

Rumesh Tharanga with his coach Tony Prasanna