“My next goal is to bring Olympic gold to Sri Lanka.”

Javelin thrower Rumesh Pathirage announced it immediately after winning the World Ultimate Championships with a monster throw of 91.09m.

“This was my one and only goal… to bring the trophy back to Sri Lanka. I was facing a lot of challenges today, but I was still hoping to bring the trophy home and I’m proud I did it,” Rumesh told World Athletics after winning the title. “Sri Lanka is a small island to be from and be here at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, so to win a trophy feels very special,” he added.

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The Sri Lankan has won 11 out of 12 international competitions he has participated in, including the Diamond League finale and Commonwealth Games, making it one of the most dominant runs in javelin.

In this dominant run, Pathirage has produced three throws above 90m (92.62m, 92.07m, 91.09m), won the CWG and DL titles, holds the top three throws in the world this season and eight out of the top 10 throws.

On Sunday, Pathirage did face some challenges. Competing in a new format where athletes get three throws and have to be in the top four to qualify for the final throw, Pathirage had an abysmal start.

He started with a throw of 75.89m in the first round, while European champion Weber took the lead as his throw landed comfortably beyond the 80-metre line and was measured at 84.09m.

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However, the German’s lead didn’t last long as two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada threw 86.18m in round two. Weber came up with 85.89m in his second throw but remained second, while Pathirage improved to 85.69m.

Pathirage took the lead in the third round with 87.11m and booked his place in the final round, with Peters, Weber and Keshorn Walcott being the other three.

Going first in the final round, Pathirage hurled the spear to 91.09m, recording his third 90m-plus throw of the season and confirming yet another title for himself.

Pathirage won $150,000 as the Ultimate Champion in the inaugural edition of the event, which is meant to add more incentive.

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When asked what he would do with the prize money, Pathirage said, “I was never thinking about the prize money and I don’t have any idea yet how I will spend the money.”

A former pacer who switched to track and field, Pathirage has used all his learnings from his cricket days to dominate the javelin circuit.

“I was playing cricket when I was at school but, after finishing school, I wanted to switch from a team to an individual sport – that’s why I changed from cricket to javelin. I inputted almost all my technique from cricket into the javelin throw because there are some similarities,” he explained.

The tiny island nation has won just two Olympic medals in athletics history, through Duncan White (400m hurdles in 1948) and Susanthika Jayasinghe (200m in 2000).

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While the 2028 LA Olympics are still some way away, Pathirage’s form suggests that he might be staking a strong claim for Olympic gold.