Rumesh Tharanga stuns Rome with record javelin throw

Colombo, June 05 ( Daily Mirror) - Sri Lankan javelin sensation Rumesh Tharanga produced a historic performance at the prestigious Rome Diamond League, setting a new meet record with a sensational throw of 92.62 metres.

The 23-year-old achieved the remarkable feat on Wednesday night, delivering the longest javelin throw in the world this year and becoming the first Sri Lankan athlete in history to surpass the coveted 90-metre mark.

Tharanga's record-breaking effort eclipsed the previous meet record of 90.34m, established by Norwegian Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen in 2006, ending a two-decade reign atop the Rome competition's record books.

The achievement also ranks as the second-best javelin throw ever by an Asian athlete, trailing only the 92.97m mark set by Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem at the Paris Olympics.

With his historic throw, Tharanga joins an exclusive group of Asian athletes to have exceeded 90 metres in the javelin. He becomes only the fourth Asian thrower to reach the milestone, alongside Nadeem, Cheng Chao-Tsun of Chinese Taipei, and India's Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra.

On the global all-time rankings, Tharanga's 92.62m effort places him eighth among the greatest javelin performances ever recorded. It is also only the second throw worldwide in more than four years to surpass the 92-metre barrier.

The performance represents a significant improvement on Tharanga's previous Sri Lankan national record of 89.37m, set at a domestic competition in March. He had also demonstrated strong form earlier this season with a throw of 89.28m at an international meet in Nairobi.