【半岛电视台非洲·非洲】‘Unstoppable’ Rumesh revives Sri Lanka’s glory, one javelin throw…

aipl1234

#非洲

‘Unstoppable’ Rumesh revives Sri Lanka’s glory, one javelin throw at a time



原文原文 / Original Text

play Live Sign upShow navigation menuNavigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedSportOpinionVideoMoreShow more sectionsOriginalsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelSponsored Contentplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upSport|Athletics‘Unstoppable’ Rumesh revives Sri Lanka’s glory, one javelin throw at a timeA gold at the Asian Games will cap off

xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoSri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage celebrates after winning the men's javelin throw final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games [File: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]By Anushe EngineerPublished On 24 Sep 202624 Sep 2026In a small coastal town just south of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, a young Rumesh Pathirage daydreamed about running away from school to a field where he could practise fast bowling, running, or anything other than being b

Academic excellence was not the promised path to glory for him. No, his path was on a synthetic rubber track, from which he would launch his javelin until it landed in the history books and made him world number one. Pathirage was destined to carry Sri Lanka to the upper echelons of sporting glory.

Losing is not in Pathirage’s vocabulary for 2026. Since February, he has won all but one of the competitions he has contested. He is the only thrower this year and the fourth in history to breach the 92-metre mark twice in a season — rare in the javelin books — and the only Sri Lankan to win the prestigious Diamond League final, the island nation’s first Commonwealth gold medallist in 20 years and the only South Asian to win a medal at the inaugural Ultimate Championships this month.

Come Saturday, the 23-year-old from Kalutara will attempt to win his final title of the season — the Asian Games gold — and attempt to break the 92.97m Asian record en route to continental triumph.

“The biggest prize is winning Olympic gold for Sri Lanka,” a nonchalant Pathirage told Al Jazeera in an online interview after the Zurich Diamond League victory, which saw him cross the 92m mark for a record second time. Given his track record, the 6-foot-1-inch (185.4cm) phenom could very well make that happen too.

An Olympic gold would be a first for Sri Lanka, as many of Pathirage’s accolades have been. But an Olympic podium finish was first achieved by Susanthika Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka’s track star who won bronze in the women’s 200m sprint at Sydney 2000, before it was upgraded to silver due to a doping disqualification.

Like Pathirage, Jayasinghe found international success in the junior circuit before bagging major wins in the big league. Her legacy, however, was bittersweet, marred by political interference, alleged tampered drug tests and sexual violence by federal sports officials, and next to no support from Sri Lanka’s athletics federation. But it paved the way for young athletes like Pathirage to dream of a future as track and field’s biggest stars.

本文为英文资讯，中文内容由机器翻译生成，仅供参考。详情请阅读文末原文。

—— 资讯转载说明 ——
本文由非洲论坛根据公开信息整理，供中国读者查阅，不代表本站立场。
来源：Al Jazeera Africa (https://www.aljazeera.com/africa/)
原文链接：https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/24/unstoppable-rumesh-revives-sri-lankas-glory-one-javelin-throw-at-a-time?traffic_source=rss
转载请遵守原发布方版权与引用规定。