The 23-year-old landed at Katunayake after the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship, where he threw 91.09m. He posted photographs of the damaged spears with the caption “Thank you Turkish Airlines” and listed distances thrown with them, including 92.62m and 92.06m.
“It might be a mistake by the airline, but it caused a priceless loss for me,” Pathirage told reporters. “It’s not a big issue; I’ll move on.”
Coach Tony Prasanna said the equipment had been packed carefully. “We checked in five javelins — all packed extremely carefully and well — but all of them arrived broken.” He called it a psychological setback. “It is not the cost of a javelin, which is quite high, but the emotional attachment. We were planning to take three of these javelins to the 2028 Olympics and to the Asian Games.”
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Sports said it would supply new javelins for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which run from 19 September to 4 October. The ministry said it would raise the matter with the airline and consider legal action. Turkish Airlines had not commented immediately.
Pathirage is Sri Lanka’s leading gold-medal hope in Japan. This season he has become Diamond League champion, Commonwealth Games champion and the only thrower to register two throws beyond 92m. He is expected to challenge Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem.
Competition javelins typically cost more than US$800 each. Elite throwers travel with several implements they have used in training and major finals. Pathirage said he would continue his preparations with replacement equipment.