Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage could do no wrong at this point. After winning gold at the Commonwealth Games this year, the young javelin thrower added yet another title to his name, winning the Diamond League final in Brussels on Saturday night. With his latest accolade, Pathirage became the first Sri Lankan athlete to win the Diamond League final. He won the event after producing a best throw of 89.04 metres in his third attempt at King Baudouin Stadium.
Rumesh Pathirage became the first Sri Lankan to win the Diamond League final (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
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This effort helped him surpass Poland’s Dawid Wegner, who had briefly taken the lead with a personal best of 87.47m. Trinidad and Tobago’s former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott finished third with 83.99m, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters was fourth at 83.70m.
Pathirage opened the competition with an 80.42m throw and followed it with 79.73m, leaving Walcott in front after the first round. Wegner then raised the bar considerably with his third-attempt personal best. The Sri Lankan eventually responded with the throw that mattered most.
Neeraj Chopra, India's two-time Olympic medallist, was slated to be the biggest competition for Pathirage, but once he pulled out due to an injury, the decks were cleared for the Sri Lankan, who has been having quite a run in 2026.
What did Pathirage say?
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Neeraj Chopra, India's two-time Olympic medallist, was slated to be the biggest competition for Pathirage, but once he pulled out due to an injury, the decks were cleared for the Sri Lankan, who has been having quite a run in 2026.
What did Pathirage say?
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After the victory, Pathirage explained that he wasn't able to get a big distance on his throw because of the harsh weather conditions in Brussels. He was also quite ecstatic about winning a prestigious Diamond League final.
“I'm truly very happy about that. Coming from a small country like Sri Lanka, winning a major meet like this,” he said.
"Honestly, I couldn't get a big throw today because the weather conditions were quite difficult - it was very cold... so that's why I couldn't reach a big distance," Pathirage added.
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Pathirage entered the final as the Diamond League as the clear-cut favourite. His most impressive mark came in Rome in June, where he threw 92.62m to set a Sri Lankan national record and a world-leading distance. He also recorded 88.68m in Doha, won in Lausanne with 88.14m and produced another huge effort of 92.07m in Zurich in his final competition before Brussels.
Here are the final results at the Diamond League final for the men's javelin throw event:
Vishesh Roy is a sports journalist with a strong focus on cricket. He began his career at Asian News International (ANI), where he covered a range of high-profile events, including the India Open, Legends Cricket League, the England–India Test series in Ahmedabad in 2021, and the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Stadium. During his tenure at ANI, he also reported extensively on domestic cricket, covering several Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches across the country. While cricket remains his primary beat, Vishesh has also reported on tennis, football and WWE. After a stint of over three years at ANI, Vishesh moved to NDTV, where he gained hands-on experience in digital-first journalism, with a particular emphasis on live blogs and real-time news reporting. He joined Hindustan Times in October 2024 and quickly established himself with a series of exclusive interviews and source-driven stories. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction, Hindustan Times was the first to report that the two-day event would be held in Saudi Arabia. In the early months of his tenure, Vishesh secured interviews with leading cricketers, including Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rashid Latif. He has also closely tracked the rise of emerging talents such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya by speaking to their current and childhood coaches. His background in on-field reporting has helped Hindustan Times Digital break exclusive stories on major developments, including Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji and Vijay Hazare Trophy, IPL scheduling, and the T20 World Cup controversy involving Bangladesh and Pakistan.
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Home/Sports/Others/Rumesh Pathirage's glorious run in 2026 continues, becomes first Sri Lankan to win Diamond League final
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