The 23-year-old athlete achieved this monumental feat last night (June 4, Sri Lanka time) by unleashing a jaw-dropping throw of 92.62 meters. Competing against the world’s elite track and field athletes, Tharanga’s spectacular effort not only shattered the previous tournament record but also registered as the world-leading javelin throw for the year 2026.
With this remarkable distance, Tharanga eclipsed a 20-year-old meet record previously held by Norwegian athlete Andreas Thorkildsen, who had cleared a distance of 90.34 meters back in 2006.
This historic moment marks the first and only time a Sri Lankan athlete has breached the elusive 90-meter barrier in javelin history. Furthermore, it ranks as the second-best performance ever by an Asian athlete in this discipline. He sits just 35 centimeters behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who holds the top Asian spot with his 92.97-meter record-breaking throw from the Paris Olympics.
Tharanga has also become only the fourth Asian thrower in history to clear the 90-meter mark. He joins a rare, elite club that previously only included Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Chao-Tsun (91.36m) and India’s former Olympic and World Champion, Neeraj Chopra (90.23m).
On a global scale, this spectacular throw places the young Sri Lankan 8th on the world's all-time list of best javelin throws. Additionally, his feat is highly significant as it is only the second time in over four years that any javelin thrower worldwide has managed to cross the 92-meter threshold.
By achieving 92.62 meters, Tharanga comfortably shattered his own previous national record of 89.37 meters, which he had set during a domestic event in Sri Lanka in March. He had followed that up with another strong international showing in Nairobi, Kenya, where he logged a distance of 89.28 meters.
