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Tharanga will be feted at the right time: Dr Nirmal

Emphasises importance of not scuttling his Olympic gold dream in 2028
SPCOBU to mark its centenary celebrations on 18 Oct.

The St. Peter’s College Old Boys Union (SPCOBU) as part of its centenary celebrations to the Peterite community, has decided to felicitate past sportsmen who have brought honour and fame to school and country, with javelin sensation Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage being foremost in the list.

This was revealed by Dr Nirmal de Silva, the head of the SPCOBU, during a press conference held at the Patron’s Auditorium, St. Peter’s College OBU Secretariat at Colombo 4 last week.

“As you know, he (Tharanga) is an old boy of St. Peter’s College,” he said. “He is a national pride winning the Commonwealth Games gold, Asian Games gold etc. And he has a very good opportunity to become Sri Lanka’s first Olympic gold medalist in two years’ time.”

Dr de Silva stated that while being utterly proud of Rumesh Tharanga being one of the products from their alma-mater, as the SPCOBU they will be looking to fete the record-breaking javelin thrower at the appropriate time, which would be suitable to the athlete concerned.

“We need to look at his training calendar, and hence we will be waiting for the right time without rushing it,” he noted.

“We didn’t want to do it prior to the Asian Games, due to the very hectic trial schedule he was faced with. So, we hope that this felicitation to Rumesh (Tharanga) could preferably coincide with our centenary celebrations.”

He said Tharanga’s deeds on the javelin track during 2026 has been such, that they could fearlessly claim that he is the only Sri Lankan and a Peterite at that, who is able to raise the Lion flag prominently on the global stage.

“We will definitely as the SPCOBU will felicitate him in a grand scale in the foreseeable future,” Dr de Silva, stressed while emphasising that organisers of such felicitations should bear in mind not to scupper the athlete’s long-term vision to grab gold at the LA Olympics in 2028 via such events.

“We must not scuttle Rumesh’s long-term plan towards the Olympics. It's all good and well to fete him, but such things should not in any way interfere with his training schedule and other meets etc.,” he added.

Asked whether the felicitation to the ace javelin thrower could entail any monetary reward, the SPCOBU President insisted that instead of a financial remuneration, they will be more concerned in exploring ways in which they could support his entire sporting journey.

“Rather than any monetary reward, we will look at ways in which we could help him in his entire journey right now,” he opined.

“We have a very wide global alumni network as far as the SPCOBU is concerned, which we intend to appeal to them so that they could support his endeavours whichever way possible.”

According to the SPCOBU which had its inception in 1927, the centenary year will be guided by the theme “Honouring the Past, Strengthening the Present and Inspiring the Peterite of Tomorrow.”

The Quadrangular Schools Sports Tournament at the College Grounds, will be the centerpiece of the celebrations during the Centenary Launch Event to be held on 18 October.