In the midst of a breakthrough season that has established him among the world’s leading javelin throwers, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga has already set his sights on an even bigger prize – Olympic gold at LA 2028.
The 23-year-old won the javelin throw title at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow in July, producing an 89.75m effort to beat India’s two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra.
Tharanga became Sri Lanka’s first Commonwealth Games men’s javelin champion, remarkably winning with his only valid throw of the final in difficult conditions at the Scotstoun Stadium.
“To be honest, 2026 was a very good year,” Tharanga told Olympics.com.
“I had big competitions. My first event was held in Perth, Australia. I competed in a Gold-level meet in Kenya. Then I went to my first Diamond League in Morocco, where I got second place. In the second Diamond League, I got first place with a new Sri Lankan record.
“After returning to Sri Lanka, I got the opportunity to participate in the Commonwealth Games for the first time. I am extremely happy because I brought a Commonwealth Games medal to Sri Lanka for the very first time.”
Tharanga’s emergence among the world’s elite has been years in the making.
He finished seventh at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022 with 69.98m before steadily improving to 76.45m in 2023 and then making a significant jump to 85.45m in 2024.
By 2025, his best had improved to 86.50m and he finished seventh at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
In 2026, that steady progression turned into a breakthrough.
Tharanga threw 89.37m in Diyagama in March before winning the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi with 89.28m. He then finished second on his Diamond League debut in Rabat before producing a stunning 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League.
The effort made him the second-best Asian men’s javelin thrower of all time, behind only Pakistan’s reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem.
For Tharanga, however, the rapid rise in results has been the product of a much longer process.
“I’ve been targeting an achievement like this for about 10 years, aimed towards the 2028 Olympics,” he said.
“I wasn’t in a rush to get here. Year after year, step by step, without taking any shortcuts or extra supplements, I improved my personal best every single year.
“I lost my first three international meets, and it was only from my fourth international meet onwards that I started winning medals. Year by year, I kept improving.”
From cricket to javelin
Before Tharanga began throwing the javelin, his first sporting passion was cricket.
A fast bowler in his younger days, he eventually gravitated towards athletics and an individual discipline where he felt greater control over his own success.
“Cricket was the first sport I played. I played cricket for a long time and was a fast bowler,” Tharanga said.
“The event suited my fast bowling, but since cricket is a team sport, I thought about switching to an individual event. Athletics is an individual sport where success depends entirely on me. That’s why I chose javelin.”
There was also an athletics influence closer to home. Tharanga’s father competed in discus throw and shot put and participated in Masters competitions, with his son initially trying the same throwing events.
“My father was also an athlete – he competed in discus throw and shot put,” Tharanga explained.
“Because of him, I started with discus throw and shot put initially. Later, my coach switched me over to javelin throw, and ultimately, I settled on javelin.”
That switch has taken Tharanga to the upper reaches of world javelin and, he believes, helped bring greater attention to the event in cricket-mad Sri Lanka.
“Many people in Sri Lanka didn’t know much about this event because most people in Sri Lanka follow cricket,” he said. “But now, people in Sri Lanka have come to know about javelin throwing through me. That’s a great thing.”
Rumesh Tharanga targets LA 2028 gold
With a Commonwealth title and a throw beyond 92m now to his name, Tharanga’s long-term target is clear.
“My goal is to bring home a medal that Sri Lanka doesn’t have yet,” Tharanga said. “Specifically, I am targeting the gold medal at LA 2028.”
An Olympic medal would also carry enormous significance for Sri Lankan athletics. The country’s last Olympic athletics medal came through Susanthika Jayasinghe, who won a silver in the women’s 200m at Sydney 2000.
“As an athlete, my main hope for 2028 is to win a gold medal,” Tharanga said. “The people of Sri Lanka are hoping for an Olympic medal for our country after Susanthika Jayasinghe.
“So I definitely hope to make their dream and my dream come true.”
And Los Angeles could offer Tharanga the opportunity to reconnect with the sport where his own journey began. Cricket will return to the Olympic programme at LA 2028, giving the former fast bowler something else to look forward to.
“Cricket is a sport I love second only to javelin throw,” Tharanga said. “I really hope to watch it alongside my javelin event.”
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/rumesh-tharanga-sri-lanka-javelin-la-2028-olympic-gold-ambition
