Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem qualifies for medal stage at Tokyo Olympics

ISLAMABAD, Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem performed up to the expectations to keep Pakistan’s medal hopes alive at Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old made it to the finals by a stunning throw of 85.16m that saw him on the top of the Group B contest, the final will take place on August 7 (Saturday).

The world number 23, who is Pakistan’s first-ever track and field athlete to compete at the quadrennial coveted event sent the spear well past the qualifying mark of 83.50m in his second attempt. In his first attempt, he threw it for 78.50m.

Arshad was placed alongside world number three Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei and world number five Anderson Peters, who remained unable to make it to the medal stage as they finished at 15th and sixth positions respectively in the Group stage.

Born in Khanewal on January 2, 1997, Arshad is a national champion in the javelin throw since 2015. He rose to prominence in 2016 when he claimed a bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, throwing the javelin for 78.33m. He finished third at the 18th Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta to win a bronze medal by sending the spear for 80.75m.

He kept on performing and in the world championship at Doha, he bettered his throw, achieving the 81.52m. At the National Games in 2019, he further improved with a throw of 83.65m. He qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2020 during the athletics competition of 13th South Asian Games 2019, Nepal by throwing the javelin for 86.29m.

In April, this year he once again exhibited a standout performance at the Mashhad Imam Reza Athletics Tournament in Iran, where he improved his national record, throwing the javelin at a distance of 86.38m.