Ultimate preview: men's javelin

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage at the World Championships in Tokyo (© Getty Images)

Contenders:Keshorn Walcott (TTO) 🌍Arshad Nadeem (PAK) 🏅Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SRI) 💎Anderson Peters (GRN)Julian Weber (GER)Curtis Thompson (USA)Julius Yego (KEN)Dawid Wegner (POL)

World lead: 92.62m Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SRI) Rome, 4 Jun2026 world list | world rankings

World record: 98.48m Jan Železný (CZE) Jena, 25 May 1996world all-time list | world record progression

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage has transformed himself from emerging contender to the dominant force in men's javelin during a remarkable 2026 season.

The Sri Lankan made the biggest statement in Rome in June, launching his javelin out to a national record of 92.62m. It moved him to eighth on the world all-time list and more than two metres clear of anyone else in the world at that stage of the season.

And Pathirage has repeatedly backed it up. He won Diamond League meetings in Rome, Doha, Lausanne and Zurich, where he produced another huge throw of 92.07m, before securing his first Diamond Trophy with 89.04m in Brussels.

He has also delivered when championship medals have been on the line, throwing 89.75m to win the Commonwealth title in Glasgow ahead of Neeraj Chopra.

Julian Weber has been his closest rival on the 2026 world list. The German produced 90.40m to win his first European title in Birmingham last month and followed that with 89.54m in Berlin, underlining the consistency of his late-season form.

But major championship pedigree is everywhere in Budapest. Keshorn Walcott returns as the reigning world champion after his victory in Tokyo last year, where Anderson Peters took silver and Curtis Thompson bronze. Peters, the world champion in 2019 and 2022, has improved to 86.93m this season, while Thompson has reached 87.59m.

Dawid Wegner is another athlete peaking at the right moment. The Pole produced a lifetime best of 87.47m to finish second to Pathirage at the Diamond League Final, adding more than four metres to the mark with which he had placed fourth at the European Championships.

Kenya's 2015 world champion Julius Yego and Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem complete a field containing five men with lifetime bests beyond 90 metres.

Pathirage has been the outstanding thrower of the year, but in the Ultimate's four-round format, one big throw from any of this decorated field could be enough to change the story.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion