After winning gold at the Commonwealth Games this year, the young javelin thrower added yet another title to his name, winning the Diamond League final in Brussels on Saturday night. He won the event after producing a best throw of 89.04 metres in his third attempt at King Baudouin Stadium. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage could do no wrong at this point. With his latest accolade, Pathirage became the first Sri Lankan athlete to win the Diamond League final.
He was also quite ecstatic about winning a prestigious Diamond League final. “I’m truly very happy about that. Pathirage entered the final as the Diamond League as the clear-cut favourite.
His most impressive mark came in Rome in June, where he threw 92.62m to set a Sri Lankan national record and a world-leading distance. He also recorded 88.68m in Doha, won in Lausanne with 88.14m and produced another huge effort of 92.07m in Zurich in his final competition before Brussels. Because of the harsh weather conditions in Brussels, after the victory, Pathirage explained that he wasn’t able to get a big distance on his throw.
Coming from a small country like Sri Lanka, winning a major meet like this,” he said.
