ISLAMABAD: Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem qualified for the final round of the Paris Olympics 2024 men’s javelin throw contest on Tuesday, sending the light spear at an impressive distance of 86.59 meters to achieve the feat.
India’s Neeraj Chopra secured the top spot from Group B in the qualifying round, throwing the javelin a distance of 89.34 meters. He was followed by Grenadian athlete Anderson Peters, who scored a throw of 88.63 meters.
“Arshad Nadeem has qualified for the final round with a throw of 86.59 meters,” Multan Sultans, a cricket franchise sponsoring Nadeem at the Paris Olympics, wrote on social media platform X.
“Congratulations Arshad Nadeem!“
Athletes were required to achieve the qualifying mark of 84.00 meters to make it into the final round, which will take place on Thursday.
Nadeem, a nine-time international medalist and four-time gold medalist who came fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is Pakistan’s best shot at a medal in the ongoing competition. The Pakistani star athlete won silver at the World Championships last year and gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with a massive 90.18m distance throw.
The last time Pakistan won a medal at the Olympics was in 1992 in Barcelona, when it secured bronze in field hockey.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Julian Weber topped Group A with a throw of 87.76 meters, followed by Kenya’s Julius Yego from the same group who threw the javelin at a distance of 85.97 meters. Czech athlete Jakub Vadlejch recorded an impressive throw at 85.63 meters while Finland’s Toni Keranin threw the light spear at 85.27 meters.
Nadeem, who comes from humble beginnings from Khanewal city in Pakistan, is one of nine children of a daily wage laborer who showed great versatility as an athlete from a young age while dabbling in all kinds of sports at school.
Though the family lacked financial means to encourage Nadeem’s enthusiasm for sports, his spirit earned him the support he needed, with his elder brothers working to help him build a career in sports, the family told Arab News in an interview in 2021.
