Journalism of Courage
Why Pathirage’s latest gold for 91.09m came on a black infield at Budapest
A broadcast-first approach to the World Ultimate athletics saw the javelin event won by the Sri Lankan go out to the world, with a drone-view of a black infield with the spotlight only on the athlete, like a movie scene. Pathirage was the star with his 91.09m throw captured from bird's eye view.
Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka makes an attempt in the men's javelin throw final at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday, Sept. Dec. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
It wasn’t ‘Budapest all over again’ as the 2023 World Championships host rolled out a stunning black carpet to form the backdrop of the javelin event for last week’s World Ultimate Athletics in Hungary.
Sri Lankan Rumesh Pathirage‘s gold winning 91.09 m throw was captured by drone cameras moving in the sky, also collecting myriad data points like exact trajectory, wind distortions and aerial angles. All of it made possible as the white javelin streaked along the black backdrop.
A reported half a million fans visited the World Athletics website, using the new World Athletics app as a second-screen companion to the live TV broadcast – combining modern short-form video and story-led content with gamification to create interactive content for fans getting peeks into athlete actions.
The reimagined Black Infield was one of many innovations besides the athlete-led 200m lane draft, and event presentation, with augmented reality for enhanced broadcast and data presentation. Interactive fan predictions and games through the World Athletics app, also made the event more riveting in an experiment that will likely be followed at top events in coming years. Sony’s optical tracking virtual finish line concept, also brought the excitement closer considered the innovation that triggered most enthusiasm from fans and broadcasters.
Javelin drone shots >>>>>>pic.twitter.com/PV7EoThhFK
— Beau Throws (@beau_throws) September 13, 2026
But what Budapest did for Javelin Throw, which barely had dedicated streams till recently, was path breaking. The stadium infield featured a dramatic black turf with only active competition zones lit up, centering visual attention entirely on the event.
Javelin notoriously gets sidelined on traditional T&F fixtures, interrupted by track races — and generally happening in the backdrop despite actually happening in the centre.
The grass was painted black with ‘eco friendly’ glaze, a water based formulation, eliminating harsh chemical solvents or toxic compounds. “The grass can breathe and will grow out in due course,” a WA official said.
For the 200m lane draft, athletes could choose their preferred semifinal heats and lanes live in a draft format based on their world ranking seed order. Other rules included strictly avoiding First-place ties in the high jump and pole vault, resolved via a jump-off. Most Field events saw Knockouts with athletes progressively going from 8-8-6-4, the field whittled down.
Story continues below this ad
Javelin offered a reverse dome effect with its Augmented reality graphics. Center-court style immediate interviews also went out to the full house stadia on all three days.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Advertisement
Loading Recommendations...
Advertisement
Live Blog
Advertisement