Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage set a new meet record by winning the javelin event at the 2026 Kip Keino Classic at the Nyayo National Stadium today
The 25-year-old hauled 89.28m on his second attempt in the first event of this year’s edition, breaking Belgian Timothy Herman’s record of 87.35m set during the 2023 edition.
Pathirage, who currently holds the world lead mark of the season (89.47m) set during the Champions Track and Field meet on March 26 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa stadium, Diyagama, said it was an honour to compete in Kenya.
“This was my first gold-level event, and I’m happy for the warm welcome I received. Coming here (as a world leader), I just wanted to prove myself and compete alongside my mentors, Julius Yego and Thomas Roehler. I want to inspire young kids in Sri Lanka by showing them that anything is possible if they put their minds to it,” he said.
He had earlier started his season with 83.07 meters at the Perth Classic in Australia on Valentine’s Day.
The 2016 Olympic champion, Thomas Roehler of Germany, finished second after attaining 83.33 metres, with South African Douw Smit completing the podium places with a season’s best mark of 81.19 metres. Former world champion, Julius Yego of Kenya, was fourth after hauling 79.87 metres.
“I feel good…this being my first competitive event of the season, I am happy with the results, especially after the injury last year. I’m happy to be back. My rhythm is poor, and that’s what I need to work on for consistency. Right now, my target is the Africa Senior Championship next month,” said Yego.
Kenya’s other competitor in the event, Boniface Kilonzo, finished in eighth spot with 66.22 meters.
In men’s shot put, George Malala defended his national title after throwing 16.22metres to finish ahead of Peter Mwangi (16.04m) and Leonard Bett (15.36m). Leonard Yegon and Geoffrey Kipkemoi, who finished fourth and fifth respectively, recorded personal bests of 15.15m and 15.13m.
Malala is optimistic of an improved performance having broken the meet record last year after attaining 16.66m.
“I have been struggling technically, and that is why I did not get a personal best today, but I thank God for the win. I have been struggling with an injury, which has bogged down my performances, but I aim to get the qualifying mark for the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“I will work on my technique and also improve my nutrition so that my form can improve. Hopefully, we can also get more support so that the discipline can get more competitors who reach the standards required,” he added