Karachi:
Battling pain, adversity and tough rivals, Pakistan’s javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem on Friday put up another impressive performance with his javelin to qualify for the World Athletics Championships final for the second year in a row. And with that, the determined man qualified for the Paris Olympics as well.
Arshad’s performance that day was poetic; He started off slow with a throw of 70.65 m on his first attempt, but then improved by over 10 m to 81.53 on his second attempt. And finally, the lion-hearted athlete finished the qualifying round on top of his Group B with an impressive 86.79m amid hot and humid weather.
Arshad achieved the second longest distance overall in the qualification round.
Meanwhile, Arshad’s main rival Neeraj Chopra of India threw his javelin to 88.77m.
Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic finished third with a throw of 83.50m. The final of the event will be held on Sunday.
“I am in pain since 2016. If you check it out, I’ve always struggled with injuries. I will do it again this year at the World Athletics Championships.
“I just want to make Pakistan proud, I want everyone’s prayers, I want to make people feel happy,” the 27-year-old told .
To his credit and courage, Arshad has overcame the long-standing injury that had been plaguing him ahead of the 2020 Olympics.
“It is exactly the same as I made an international comeback with the World Championships immediately after the Tokyo Olympics last year. I am doing the same this year also. I can say that pain has been a big part of my journey. It lasts, but I get over it. Even now, I trained very carefully. My legs are a bit stiff, but I am fit at the moment.”
Arshad was going against the odds in the qualifying phase, with commentators calling him rusty, just before he threw his javelin 86.79m, his season’s best.
With that amazing performance, he sealed his place in Paris as the qualifying standard for men is 85.50m.
Despite a lot at stake, unlike the Commonwealth Games when he was charged and shouted at while throwing the javelin, this time Arshad has calmed down, and is more calculated in his behavior and approach .
He looked like he was almost in a meditative state and was smiling with self-assurance. “I will throw with all my might, whatever I have, and the rest is truly on Allah. I believe so,” said the Mian-Chunnu resident, who once dreamed of becoming a fast bowler.
Arshad has emerged as a master of delivering shocking performances. Even on Friday, it wasn’t hard to see his knee and right elbow, which had been injured in previous programs and practice sessions.
“I trained full time in Lahore, earlier this year at the National Games I injured my right knee which was very painful, the outer edge of my right knee was troubling me. I got the MRI done, so since then my aim was to make sure I stay fit as my target was the World Championships,” Arshad said.
He told that he was training with Salman Butt in Lahore and was away from his family for more than two months.
Earlier this year, Arshad had told that he wanted to train abroad with the same coach with whom India’s Neeraj Chopra is associated, but a knee injury forced him to stay back in Pakistan. could not travel
Arshad said, “I wanted to train abroad, of course it was on my list, but how could I do that with an injury like this.”
It is a wonderful coincidence that Arshad has given his best performance in August. His Tokyo Olympic finish among the top javelin throwers was in August and his record-breaking performance at the Commonwealth Games was in the same month last year, in fact, his Asian Games 2018 javelin event where he won a bronze medal was also It was in August. When both Chopra and he shared the stage.
Arshad urged the people of Pakistan and his fans to pray continuously, saying, “I think it’s a lucky month for me, it’s also the month of our Independence Day, so it makes me happy.”
