CHENNAI: JUST days after his 91.09m throw at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, Sri Lanka's javelin phenom Rumesh Pathirage has posted pictures of his broken javelins, allegedly broken during his travel from Budapest to Colombo.
The 23-year-old Sri Lankan won the men's javelin throw final at the World Ultimate Athletics Championships in Budapest. Earlier, he won the Diamond League finals.
"All three javelins I used for over 90 throws have been damaged. It might have been a mistake by the airline, but that’s how it is. It’s not a big issue. I’ll move on," Pathirage was quoted as saying by Sri Lankan news outlet NewsWire.
While he might say that he might move on from it, that may not be easy. Those javelins hold sentimental value, for he has hauled it for glory. On his social media, he posted photos of those javelins with a caption saying, "Thank you Turkish Airlines. Bad luck."
After enjoying a good run of form, he enters the Asian Games as the favourite to win gold. With double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra forced out due to injury and Pakistan's reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem struggling for form, the road looks clear for him.
Hours after his instagram pictures went viral on the internet, the Sri Lankan government has reportedly promised to provide new sets of javelin at their expense.
"The government will take up this matter with the airline and take appropriate legal action," the Sri Lankan ministry of youth affairs and sports said in a statement.
