Sri Lankan star Rumesh Pathirage’s javelin broken ahead of Asian Games

Sri Lankan star Rumesh Pathirage’s javelin broken ahead of Asian GamesPathirage’s javelins, which he used to throw world-best distance, were broken on his flight back from Budapest.Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage is Sri Lanka’s best hope for gold at the Asian Games, but his preparations have been thrown out of whack after his javelins were broken on a flight back from the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship.The 23-year-old won gold in Budapest, Hungary, with a best throw of 91.09 metres to add yet another title to his growing collection this season, including Diamond League champion, Commonwealth Games champion, and the only thrower this season to register two throws over 92m.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Jefferson-Wooden, Bednarek complete Ultimate Championship sprint doubleslist 2 of 4World Athletics Ultimate Championship opens with record $10m prize potlist 3 of 4South Korean officials decry ‘worst ever’ Asian Games accommodationlist 4 of 4Athletes share ‘what women in sport look like’ to rebut Sydney Sweeney adend of listBut his triumphant homecoming turned sour when he landed in Katunayake to find his equipment broken.Pathirage posted a picture of the five damaged javelins, including the three he used at the Ultimate Championship, on social media on Tuesday with the caption: “Thank you Turkish Airlines.”He also listed the distances he had thrown them: “85.98, 92.62, 88.50, 89.20, 89.37, 88.20, 89.68, 92.06, 91.06 good bye.”“It might be a mistake by the airline, but it caused a priceless loss for me,” Pathirage told reporters. “It’s not a big issue; I’ll move on.”Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage celebrates with the trophy after his victory in men’s javelin throw final during the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on September 13, 2026 [Ben Stansall/AFP]His coach, Tony Prasanna, lamented the “rude shock” they were greeted with in Sri Lanka.“We checked in five javelins — all packed extremely carefully and well — but all of them arrived broken,” Prasanna told the AFP news agency.