CHENNAI: Javelin in the Commonwealth Games could turn out to be a fascinating contest between three Asian throwers. There has been a mini javelin revolution in South Asia. First, it was Neeraj Chopra to win Olympic gold (Tokyo), then Arshad Nadeem in Paris Games and now following in their footsteps, though not an Olympic medallist, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage has broken the 90-m barrier in javelin throw. He is second in Asia behind Arshad Nadeem, who threw the spear to 92.97m at the Paris Olympics. Neeraj’s best is 90.23m.
On a balmy Rome evening, coached by a Sri Lankan coach, Rumesh threw the javelin to a humongous 92.62m. This is his first 90-m throw and going by his form this season, it was not a fluke. He already had a world-leading personal best of 89.37m before entering this competition. And now, he is the world leader in javelin this year. Interestingly, just like Nadeem, Rumesh was a fast bowler before turning his attention to javelin.
He had an elite field in Rome. Two-time Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott, former world champion Anderson Peters, former Olympic champion Thomas Rohler, former Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch. He trains under Ex Airforce coach Tony Prasanna. India's Sachin Yadavm, who has a personal best of 86.27m at the World Championships last year managed just 79.18m on DL debut.
As for Neeraj, he expected to get back to the track in the postponed Doha Diamond League on June 19. He has been nursing niggles since the Paris Olympics and the lofty standard he set on consistency seems to be shaking. He managed a modest eighth finish at the World Championships last year. Hopefully, things will be better this year. It was the first time Pathirage had ever taken the maximum of eight points at a DL meeting and the distance in eighth all-time best in javelin.
“Even though I had only two valid attempts today, I am very stable mentally,” he was quoted saying by Diamond League website. “It was very hot in Rabat and the weather in Rome feels good to throw further than at the last competition. Winning today feels like a Sri Lankan festival!”
Palitha Fenando, Sri Lankan Athletics president was elated with the result and felt that Rumesh has been training under a Sri Lankan coach and it is a good precedent as athletes don't need to go to foreign coaches for better performance.
