Sri Lanka’s Ultimate Champion Ruwan Pathirage: Record Prize Money Wasn’t My Motivation

Rumesh Pathirage celebrates the 2026 Ultimate Championship. Picture courtesy: World Athletcs

Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage said he wasn’t thinking of the huge financial windfall when he vanquished his rivals to capture the men’s javelin title at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 on Sunday, September 13.
The recent Commonwealth Games champion has been setting the pace in the discipline this year, winning 11 of his 12 competitions before heading to Budapest.

Winning in Budapest against a world-class field earned him a staggering US $150,000 (nearly $50m Sri Lankan rupees) from a historic $10 million prize jackpot for the inaugural Ultimate Championship.
The prize money for the next two places were also record highs: US$75,000 for second and US$40,000 for third.

Watch his winning throw: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2677933532621787

“I was never thinking about the prize money and I don’t have any idea yet how I will spend it,” the humble Pathirage said.

“Sri Lankan athletes have won two Olympic medals so far and my next goal is to bring the Olympic gold medal home.”

Prior to winning the Diamond League Final, Pathirage had thrown a world-leading 92.62m in Rome and backed it up with a 92.07m victory in Zurich.

Quiet Start

However, Sri Lanka Air Force star and favourite got off to a quiet start in Budapest, with an opening throw of 75.89m. European champion Julian Weber impressed with his first throw, which landed comfortably beyond the 80-metre line and was measured at 84.09m.
The German’s lead didn’t last long, though, as two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada threw 86.18m in round two. Weber responded with 85.89m, an improvement on his first throw, but remained in second. Pathirage came to life in that round, too, throwing 85.69m.

The Sri Lankan improved again in the third round, sending his spear out to 87.11m to take the lead. Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem threw a season’s best of 81.49m in that round, but it was only enough for fifth place, meaning he didn’t qualify for the fourth and final round.

Steely Nerves
Pathirage showed steely nerves to fire off a massive throw of 91.09m in the final round, incidentally the first 90-metre throw ever achieved in Hungary. Peters ended his series with 82.63m, and Weber threw 78.75m, meaning Pathirage’s victory was secured.

“This was my one and only goal – to bring the trophy back to Sri Lanka,” said Pathirage, who attended St Peter’s College, Colombo.. “I faced a lot of challenges today, but I was still hoping to win and I’m proud I did it.

Pathirage was a promising fast bowler before being persuaded to try the javelin. He was clocked at 134/km/h as a paceman.

Australian Training Pays Off

In addition to his hard work, Pathirage owes his international javelin success to the two seasons training under Australia’s two-time world champion Kelsey Lee-Barber and her husband Mike in Canberra.

Pathirage blossomed under Kelsey and Mike, improving his PB by an astonishing nine metres in 2024 to 85.45m, then to 86.50m in 2025, and this year reached an outstanding 92.62m. That throw, achieved at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, lifted him to eighth place on the all-time world list.

Pathirage is not the first South Asian male to hit the javelin; Indian great Neeraj Chopra started the trend at the 2022 Tokyo Olympics. He was also world, Commonwealth and Asian champion, with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem dethroning him at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
By Lawrence Machado, with additional details from World Athletics and the Athletics Podium