Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, of Sri Lanka, makes an attempt in the men’s javelin throw during the Diamond League Golden Gala Pietro Mennea athletics meet in Rome, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo)

Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage produced the second-best javelin throw ever by an Asian athlete, going past both Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng and Neeraj Chopra with a 92.62m effort to win the Diamond League meet in Rome on Thursday. His throw now trails only Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic gold-winning mark of 92.97m from Paris 2024 in the Asian all-time list. While Pathirage grabbed the headlines, India’s Sachin Yadav had a difficult Diamond League debut, finishing eighth in a 10-man field with a best throw of 79.18m.The 26-year-old’s effort was well below his personal best of 86.27m, which he achieved while finishing fourth at the 2025 World Championships. His season’s best remains 81.95m, recorded while finishing second at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi in April.Yadav started with a foul and followed it with throws of 79.18m, 77.02m, 76.62m and 75.54m. He ended in eighth place after five attempts. Only the top three athletes after the fifth round were allowed a sixth and final throw.Pathirage crossed the 90m mark for the first time in his career with his second-round effort of 92.62m. The throw took him past Cheng’s 91.36m and Chopra’s 90.23m to become the second-best Asian performer in history. He also became only the fourth Asian and the 28th athlete overall to throw beyond 90m.The Sri Lankan had entered the competition as the world season leader with 89.37m from a domestic event in March. Thursday’s victory was also his first Diamond League title.The 2026 season has been a breakthrough year for Pathirage. He finished second at the Rabat Diamond League on May 31 with 85.97m and earlier won the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi with 89.28m.For Yadav, the Rome event was his first international competition since finishing fourth at the 2025 World Championships.Two-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters finished second with 83.91m, while American thrower Curtis Thompson was third with 83.89m.World champion Keshorn Walcott ended fourth with 83.45m.Chopra, who is training in Bienne, Switzerland after a stint in Turkiye, did not compete in Rome. It is not yet known when he will begin his season.The next Diamond League meeting featuring men’s javelin will be held in Doha on June 19. The event was originally scheduled for May 8 but was postponed because of the conflict in the West Asia.