Sri Lanka's Rumesh Tharanga took gold in the Rome Diamond League with a monster throw, clearing the competition by almost 10 metres.
Sri Lanka's
Rumesh Taranga came alive in the eternal city, as his country's javelin pride became just the 4th Asian thrower to clear the magical 90 metre mark. The competition was clearly dumbstruck, as they lost all belief that victory was possible and barely managed to get within 10 metres of Taranga's monster throw.
The 23-year old already held his national record, but victory in Rome will see his star rise even higher in his beloved homeland. The only downside in Taranga's performance was that he only managed two valid attempts, but that won't dampen his spirits one bit.
The Lankan immediately took the lead with his first throw, launching the javelin up to a respectable 84,49 metres. However, it was the second attempt that truly set Rome alight, as the crowd roared the javelin up to a monster throw of 92,62 metres - a new record for Sri Lanka, and barely behind the current Asian record.
All of the following 4 attempts came and went without a result to the disappointment of the amped up crowd, but Taranga was still ecstatic after the meet.
- The climate here in Rome was beneficial for me, and now it's a proper Sri Lankan festival! I felt great after the Rabat Diamond League, and I'll try and go even further in Ostrava, Taranga told the official Olympic channel.
The new Sri Lanka record also smashed the meeting record of
Andreas Thorkildsen by over 2 metres, which had stood for 20 years. Taranga still doesn't have any major title medals to his name outside of Asia, but if this form keeps up, he'll surely be amongst the fight in next year's World Championships.
The other throwers in Rome barely afforded a side show, as the closest competition Taranga faced was
Anderson Peters, who managed 83,91 metres.
Source:
Olympics
