Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem has qualified for the final round of men’s javelin throw in Tokyo Olympics 2020, keeping hopes alive to bring maiden medal to the country.

Hailing from a village of Mian Channu, Punjab, Nadeem was the first athlete from the country who had qualified for the final round of the Olympics.

Nadeem finished above Germany’s Julian Weber and Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch to win his group and a place in the medal round with an 85.16 throw, a performance that got his coach out of his seat applauding.

He will play against Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra in the final round of the competition on August 7. Social media users, including political figures and the US embassy, expressed jubilation on the performance of Nadeem.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar shared a video of the athlete on Twitter and said, “Arshad Nadeem has made us all proud with his performance at the javelin throw competition. The whole nation is praying for his success in the Olympics final.”

In a tweet, the US embassy also felicitated Nadeem on his achievement.

Earlier, weightlifter Talha Talib stood fifth in the men’s 67kg weightlifting category, missing bronze by only two kilogrammes.

Mahoor Shahzad, who was the first Pakistani to represent the country in badminton at the Olympics, lost the first round to Akane Yamaguchi.