India, Sept. 29 -- The Sri Lankan Sports Club in Glasgow set up a crowd-funding page in August. The target was £900, but donations eventually reached £780. There are many such crowd-funding efforts that have been set up by the Sri Lankan diaspora all over the world. All with the solitary aim to help a certain Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage.

By trade, the 23-year-old is a javelin thrower whose sport demands him to travel for tournaments across the world, racking up costs that are eased by his employment in the Sri Lankan Air Force. But the youngster does not have any major sportswear sponsor, like most of his rivals. The tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean may not be a major market for global brands, but Pathirage has emerged as o...