Rumesh Tharanga secures historic seventh place at World Athletics

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s number one javelin thrower, Rumesh Tharanga, finished seventh among the 12 athletes who competed in the men’s final at the 20th IAAF World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, Japan yesterday.

Tharanga threw a distance of 84.38 meters in the final.

The gold medal in the event was claimed by Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago with a throw of 88.16 meters while Anderson Peters of Grenada secured the silver medal with 87.38 meters. Curtis Thompson of the United States took the bronze medal with 86.67 meters.

At just 22 years, Rumesh Tharanga is the youngest athlete to qualify for the men’s javelin final at this championship. His achievement marks a historic moment in Sri Lankan athletics as he is the first male javelin thrower to finish among the top seven in a World Athletics Championship final. 

Tharanga also became the first Sri Lankan male athlete to ever qualify for a men’s javelin final at a World Athletics Championship.

The final featured 12 top-class athletes, including Olympic champions and medalists. Among them were three Olympic gold medalists, eight Olympic medalists, four World Athletics Championship gold medalists, and a total of nine World Championship medalists, making Tharanga’s top-seven finish a remarkable accomplishment on the global stage.