Diamond League: Sri Lankan javelin star dominates as Wilma Heltelä’s rival sets another record

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage continued his dominant season in the javelin at Saturday’s Diamond League meeting in Brussels, winning with a throw of 89.04 meters. The Sri Lankan had struggled in the opening rounds, throwing 80.42 and 79.73 meters, but produced the winning effort on his third attempt.

Poland’s Dawid Wegner finished second after improving his personal best by 1.8 meters. His third-round throw of 87.47 meters put him comfortably ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, who took third with 83.99 meters. Pathirage’s season-leading mark remains 92.62 meters, and he has repeatedly threatened the 90-meter barrier this season without breaking it in Brussels.

The meeting also featured an injury to Belgium’s Timothy Herman. He collapsed during his approach run and held his leg. Herman left the field on a stretcher and withdrew from the competition. His best throw, 71.79 meters in the second round, left him sixth, ahead only of the United States’ Curtis Thompson.

In the women’s pole vault, Hana Moll won decisively and set another personal best. The American cleared 4.91 meters on her third attempt, improving her previous record by one centimeter, before failing three times at 4.96. Switzerland’s Angelica Moser finished second at 4.80, and Slovenia’s Tina Sutej was third at 4.70. Wilma Heltelä did not compete.

Moll, 21, had set her previous record in Zurich a week earlier after Heltelä withdrew from that meeting because of illness. Moll’s best mark was 4.65 meters in 2023 and 4.81 last year, leaving her nine centimeters short of five meters.

Kenneth Bednarek won the men’s 200 meters in 19.62 seconds, matching his season-leading time. South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile finished second in 19.89 and Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba third in 19.99. The legal tailwind measured 0.8 meters per second.