Sri Lankan athlete Romesh Tharanga—the current world champion in the javelin throw—returned to the island this morning (15) after concluding an overseas tournament. It is reported that five javelins belonging to him sustained suspicious damage—specifically, breakage—during air transport.
The damaged equipment includes all five javelins he uses, among them the ones he employed to set world records: the javelin thrown a distance of 91.09 meters in Budapest, Hungary, and the one thrown 92.07 meters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Rumesh Tharanga, who won both the Ultimate and Diamond League championships, arrived at Katunayake Airport at 5:10 AM today on Turkish Airlines flight TK-730.
However, reports are circulating on social media that the Sports Minister is preparing to provide Romesh Tharanga with a new javelin. It is reported that the value of the five damaged javelins is nearly two million rupees and that Romesh Tharanga will likely be compensated for this amount through the airline’s insurance coverage.