Sri Lankan javelin thrower Rumesha Tharanga is set to compete in the men’s javelin throw event at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, today (13).
The event is scheduled to begin at 9.40 p.m. Sri Lanka time.
Tharanga, currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the javelin throw, holds the world’s best mark of the year after recording a throw of 92.62 metres.
Having won the javelin title at this year’s Diamond League, Tharanga is expected to face his strongest challenge from Germany’s Julian Weber.
Weber set a new championship record of 90.40 metres at this year’s European Athletics Championships.
Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, and Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago are also among the leading athletes set to compete in the event.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship, which brings together elite athletes who have excelled at the Olympics, World Championships, Diamond League and other major competitions, began on September 11 and concludes today.
The winner of each event will receive a prize of US$150,000, equivalent to nearly Rs. 50 million.
Prize money will also be awarded from second to eighth place, with the athlete finishing eighth receiving US$10,000.
