Javelin throw Archives

Here’s why Arshad Nadeem withdraws from World Athletics Silver Tour

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem has opened up on his decision to withdraw from the forthcoming World Athletics Silver Tour, scheduled to begin on 15 July in Switzerland.

The World Athletics Silver Tour is a series of top‑level track & field competitions. The silver level is one of the event’s categories, positioned below the Gold Level and above the Bronze and Challenger levels.

While interacting with the media, Arshad revealed the reason behind his decision.

“I’ve decided to withdraw from the Switzerland event due to a strain in my calf that I experienced during training here,” Nadeem told reporters.

“I don’t want the strain to worsen, so this decision is in the interest of my long-term fitness,” he added.

The Gold Medalist emphasized the World Championship slated to commence in Japan this year, stating that he is leaving for London in a few days.

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“My entire focus is on the World Championship, which will be held in Tokyo this September. I’m leaving for London on July 14 to resume training in a more suitable environment,” Arshad Nadeem said.

“The heat in Pakistan is extreme right now, and with the onset of the rainy season, training conditions have become difficult. In this weather, there’s always a risk of injury, which is what happened with my calf,” the 28-year-old said.

Arshad Nadeem mentioned the weather of England, along with upgraded facilities, in a bid to prepare for the forthcoming event.

“England will offer pleasant weather and better recovery facilities, which are crucial at this stage. Coach Salman Iqbal Butt will be accompanying me, and together we’ll prepare for the upcoming challenges.”

“I believe the quality of training and recovery in England will prepare me well for both the Diamond League and the World Championship,” he concluded.

For the unversed, Arshad Nadeem made headlines around the world last year after his gold-medal performance at the Paris Olympics, where he stunned the field with a record-breaking 92.97-metre throw, shattering the previous Olympic mark and etching his name in sporting history.

That throw not only made him the first Pakistani athlete to win Olympic gold in track and field but also the only South Asian javelin thrower to cross the 90-metre barrier.

His recent victory at the Asian Championships also carried historical significance. Arshad became the first Pakistani in over five decades to secure gold at the continental event.

The last time Pakistan won a javelin title at the Asian level was in 1973, when Allah Ditta and Muhammad Younis triumphed in the javelin and 800m events, respectively, in the Philippines.

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‘Worked hard despite elbow and knee injury’ says Arshad before CWG final

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan’s ace athlete Arshad Nadeem seemed hopeful for another sensational performance in today’s action-packed men’s javelin throw final in the Commonwealth Games 2022.

In a video message ahead of today’s final, Arshad stated that he would try his best to produce an exceptional performance in the contest and urged the whole nation to pray for his success.

The 25-year-old javelin star will be seen in action today alongside 12 other competitors in the final including the two-times World Athletics Champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago.

“I have worked hard for the event despite the elbow and knee injury. I will try my best to perform well in today’s final,” he said.

“People of Pakistan have always showered love on me and I ask them to pray for me today as well” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that Arshad created history for Pakistan as he became the first athlete from the country to reach a final at World Athletics Championships. Whereas, he finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

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Pakistan javelin-thrower sharpens hopes of rare Olympic medal

Lahore: Arshad Nadeem once dreamed of becoming a star cricketer, but after switching to athletics he has the opportunity to grab Pakistan’s first individual Olympic medal in more than 30 years.
“Right now there is a chance for me,” Nadeem told AFP as he prepared for next month’s Covid-delayed Tokyo Games.
“If I throw my best then, God willing, I will win a medal.”
Since its first Olympics in London in 1948, Pakistan have won three gold, three silver and two bronze medals in field hockey.

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The bronzes won by wrestler Mohammad Bashir in Rome in 1960 and boxer Hussain Shah in Seoul in 1988 are Pakistan’s only individual Olympic medals.
But ahead of next month’s games, Nadeem has the world’s sixth-best javelin throw of the year — a personal best 86.38 metres achieved in April in Iran, where he was forced to travel in order to seek top-flight competition.
The strapping 24-year-old, who ditched cricket for athletics as a teenager, will face tougher opponents in Tokyo, but he said he won’t be fazed.
“I don’t look at any of the other javelin throwers… I don’t focus on them,” he said after a training session in Lahore.
“I focus on myself and how I throw and I try my best — and that is how God honours me.”

Family first

Nadeem already has a taste for gold, having stood atop the podium at last year’s South Asian Games in Nepal.
He took bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games behind gold-winner Neeraj Chopra of India, the farmer’s son who has thrown the third-longest distance this year.
It hasn’t been an easy path for the 1.87 metre-tall (six feet two inches) Nadeem, who comes from a village in a wheat and cotton-producing area of Punjab.
With sons and daughters put to work early, he had little time for his first love, cricket, and facilities and proper training were scarce.
Despite the difficulties, Nadeem shone as an all-rounder. “I was good,” he said.
“There was a chance for me to be part of the national team, but conditions were such that I couldn’t do it.”
On the advice of a brother, Nadeem turned to athletics — which took less time than days-long cricket matches — trying his hand at a variety of events.
“There was shot put, javelin, discus, hammer, long jump, high jump and triple jump,” he said.
“I even ran in the 100 metres, 200 metres and relay — and thankfully I won about seven to nine events at divisional level.”
Nadeem’s big break came in 2015 when he was taken on by Pakistan’s water and power board, a government authority with a modest budget for nurturing sports talent.
There he was taken under the wing of coach Fayaz Hussain Bukhari.
“He threw well so we gave him a job,” said Bukhari, who has been Nadeem’s coach ever since.

‘Good learner’

Still, sacrifices had to be made in order to produce a world-class athlete — not least in getting the right diet.
“Yes, food is a big problem… But that is something that needs to be dealt with as part of life,” he said.
Bukhari said getting Nadeem in the right condition for the Games had been difficult during the pandemic.
“Training is the real challenge. He sat at home for a year because of corona,” said the coach.
“All the gyms and stadiums were closed. I had to work him hard to bring him to a point where he could compete and win again.”
Bukhari, who is paid just 15,000 rupees a month (around $100) to look after his charge, said Nadeem was a great student.
“He trains well and is a good learner,” he said, adding: “We are going to do our best, and the rest is in God’s hands.”
Whatever the result in Tokyo, Nadeem knows he can count on the support from his family and neighbours.
“We have a small village which has become famous not just in all of Pakistan but the entire world because of Arshad Nadeem,” he said.
“They are very happy.”