From 2nd Fastest Bowler to 2nd In The World
Recent World Lead and Former Schoolboy Fast Bowler Rumesh Tharanga who turns 22 years today, is the first Sri Lankan Athlete to break the 85m barrier in Men's Javelin
He was once a Fast Bowling prodigy at school cricket level before his hidden talent was nurtured with a Javelin instead of the leather ball. Rumesh Tharanga, a young Javelin star in the making celebrates his 22nd birthday today!
Born on a day like this in 2003, young Rumesh was destined to become a Fast bowler for his school cricket team at Sri Palee National School, Horana and was also the Vice Captain of the Kaluthara District team. He was also pursuing athletics at the time displaying great skill in throwing events like Javelin and Discus.
The Change From Cricket to Athletics
Fun fact - at the age of 16 years, he clocked 134kmph at the Airtel Sri Lanka's Fastest, one of the known pace talent hunting programs conducted in Sri Lanka by Airtel back in 2019 at the Under 18 category and was only second to Eshan Malinga who now plays for Sri Lanka and to play for the "Orange Army" at the IPL.
Despite this talent of his, Coach Tony Prasanna saw another side of him. Having performed at the Junior John Tarbet in Javelin, Coach Tony made him focus only on Javelin and was instrumental in his admission to St.Peter's College where he became the new schoolboy record holder at U20 and was also part of the 2022 World Junior Athletics team.
The Rapid Rise To World Lead
Rumesh became an overnight sensation only last year when he threw a monstrous 85.45m at the Asian Throwing Championships to win the Gold medal. Despite breaking the National record that belonged to Sumedha Ranasinghe, he was 5cm short of qualifying for the Olympics and didn't have a lot of time to compete in events in order to qualify based on rankings.
Despite the late rise to prominence, Rumesh started this year on a very positive note at his recent training tour to Australia, throwing 85.41m for the World Lead position. Currently, he sits at No.2 behind fellow countryman Sumedha who renewed Rumesh's National Record for the World Lead in Javelin, and qualifying for the World Championship.
With Rumesh finding consistency in his events, it's very likely he will qualify for the big event this year on the entry standard, rather than the World Rankings and we look forward to see young Rumesh carry the baton, or Javelin rather, from the senior man Sumedha for representing not only Sri Lanka but competing against the best in the World as another fellow South Asian, along the likes of Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem.
Here's to wishing Rumesh on his 22nd birthday today!