2 min readSep 6, 2026 01:23 AM IST
Sri Lankan thrower Rumesh Pathirage won the Diamond League Final with another monster throw of 89.04m at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Making his debut at the Diamond League finale after dominating the circuit all year, Pathirage started with two underwhelming throws of 80.42m and 79.73m. In his third attempt, he surged to his usual best, recording 89.04m to take the lead.
Poland’s Dawid Wegner finished second with a new personal best of 87.47m, while world champion Keshorn Walcott took third with a season-best throw of 83.99m.
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This is Pathirage’s second major title of the season, having earlier won the Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, finishing ahead of former Olympic champion India’s Neeraj Chopra.
Pathirage qualified for the final after a sensational run in the Diamond League circuit. He won four meets and finished second in one, with victories in Rome (where he achieved the world lead of 92.62m), Doha, Lausanne, and Zurich, with a runner-up finish at the Silesia Diamond League.
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Holding the world lead, Pathirage has been the best javelin thrower in the world this season by a significant margin. He is currently ranked World No. 1, holds the world lead, and is the only thrower to cross the 92m mark twice this season. He also owns eight of the top ten throws in the world this year.
With Neeraj withdrawing from the Asian Games, Rumesh will be up against Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Yashvir Singh, and prominent Indian thrower Rohit Yadav. Men’s Javelin throw qualification and final are scheduled for September 26 and 28, respectively.
With the Asian Games and the World Ultimate Athletics title still to come, Pathirage has the opportunity to close out one of the most dominant seasons in the history of javelin throw.
