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

In 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 buried in books. 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.