Karachi:

Pakistan’s javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem said after his iconic performance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, “I didn’t throw it freely. If I had done that, the javelin would have gone further.” Paris has secured its place in the Olympics.

Despite the restraint, Arshad produced an impressive result with a throw of 86.79m, qualifying him directly for the final.

He is still dealing with less than 100 per cent fitness but his spirits are high and he wants to make his country proud by winning a medal in Sunday’s final.

It was the second best throw behind India’s Neeraj Chopra’s 88.77m, ensuring the South Asians’ dominance of the European sport, at least in the qualification round.

For Sunday, Arshad is praying and also wishing Chopra.

“I want the country to pray for me continuously, I want to be world number one, world champion,” said the talented veteran.

Arshad told , “I want my fans around the world to do the same and I want to wish Neeraj bhai all the best. It’s good for our sport and we both feel we can win medals.” ” The wee hours of Saturday morning in Budapest.

He told how everyone was looking for a shady spot at the venue during the competition on Friday. “Everyone wanted to be in the shade, the weather was very hot. I was busy thinking where to sit next even in between three attempts.”

The 27-year-old athlete said he was very keen to qualify for the Olympics, a goal he was not vocal about, keeping it close to his heart, but was completely focused on it.

Arshad said, “To be honest, I had come to the World Championships with only one goal, that is to qualify for the Olympics.”

But the key for Arshad was to see where he stood amongst the competition and get the job done.

“I was targeting the World Championships, I came here for such a big event, so I want to do well.

“All this time I had Olympic qualification on my mind, no matter how difficult it was after my right knee injury earlier this year. I decided to skip the Asian Championship because I knew I could not risk it. Could put,” 2018 said. Asian Games bronze medalist.

Arshad is happy with his performance so far, though he wants to win a medal in Budapest.

He was smiling at the fact that his qualification result was better than last year’s final round (86.16m).

He admitted, “I’m happy, after a long year and all the pain, I’m back to my normal throw. Even though I’m physically fit, I’m still 10-20% short of peak fitness.” “

“We had to be creative during training and did some routines and skipped some because I was feeling tense and sore.

“I didn’t do high jumps, medicine balls and other things because the pain got worse every time I tried.”

And yet, his performance on Friday was a masterclass, earning him appreciation from the other coaches at the venue as well.

One can say that this was Arshad’s most complete performance where he remained poised, calm and assured.

“My confidence is really high; I believe I can do it. Arshad, who trains in Lahore, said, “I came here to qualify for the Olympics and saw that Allah has helped me achieve that goal, so I am careful.”

Arshad’s technique was also different in the qualification phase. He was not running his normal run. He said that this happened because of three challenges. “I have changed my technique because of my knee, I worry about it, I don’t want to be harsh with it, I can feel my mind not letting me go overboard, I am cautious. This track is different from the track I’ve used before, in that I needed to use shoes with smaller spikes so they wouldn’t tear up the surface. This was my first experience with this track and these shoes. I had to make sure that I run carefully and do not slip.

“Every javelin thrower has elbow problems, and I think after my first throw (70.63m), people must have thought I was still not there.

“After the qualification round, we spent time in the stadium, people took pictures, so it was really cool,” Arshad said, acknowledging that the difference in facilities and professional training between him and Chopra is huge.