3 min readSep 6, 2026 12:40 PM IST
With a throw of 89.04m, Rumesh Pathirage became the first Sri Lankan athlete to win the Diamond League title. The Javelin thrower also became the only fifth Asian thrower to win the title across categories and only the second male thrower after Neeraj Chopra to achieve the same.
“I´m the first ever Sri Lankan to win the Diamond League Final and that makes me extremely proud,” Rumesh said after the historic win.
Rumesh recorded three throws over 85m on the night to continue his dominant run on the circuit.
Pathirage started with two underwhelming throws of 80.42m and 79.73m. In his third attempt, he surged to his usual best, recording 89.04m to take the lead.
ALSO READ | Rumesh Pathirage wins Diamond League Final with a throw of 89.04m
Poland’s Dawid Wegner finished second with a new personal best of 87.47m, while world champion Keshorn Walcott took third with a season-best throw of 83.99m.
Pathirage, who is enjoying his breakthrough season and finished at the top position in most of the competitions he has played at, said that he could have done better.
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“I was really looking forward to compete in the Diamond League and I´m very happy that I´ve been rewarded with a win in the Final. I know that I could do much better than the 89.04 today, but the conditions were difficult today. I´m used to much higher temperatures. I´ll try to attack and take over the meeting record in the next few years,” he quipped after the win.
Last month, Pathirage created history by becoming only the fifth Javelin thrower in history to cross the 92m mark twice with a throw of 92.07m at the Zurich Diamond League.
His dominantion can be understood with these numbers: he holds the world lead with 92.62m, he is ranked number one in the world, he has won four out of five Diamond League meets, Commonwealth Games gold and the Diamond League finale.
In the season top list of Javelin Throw, he has eight throws in top ten with the other belonging to Julian Weber.
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With another historic title in his kitty, Pathirage will look to become first Sri Lankan thrower to win Asian Games title later in the month at Aichi Nagoya, Japan.
In absence of former Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, he is the favourite to win the title.