Pakistani Olympian Arshad Nadeem secured 5th place in the javelin event at the Worlds Athletics Championship. He threw the javelin at a distance of 86.16m which was 4.38m short of the bar that got the Grenadian athlete gold medal.
“This is my 86.16 throw. I did my best but unfortunately, I miss[ed] my last attempt,” Nadeem said in a Twitter post. He also shared the video of his throw.
The 25-year-old javelin thrower from Mian Channu, a small town in Punjab, is the first and only Pakistani to qualify directly for an athletics sports-and-field event at the Olympics.
He managed to secure his place in the finals of the Worlds Athletics Championship despite making a slow start. Nadeem’s first throw only reached 76.15m, and the second fell even shorter at 74.38m. But his third throw was strong enough to get him to the top 12 and qualify him for the finals of the Championship.
He missed his first and last throws, which cost him his position in the top three, in the finals. But his remaining four throws reached distances of 75.13m, 82.05m, 86.16m, and 83.63. He managed to reach his record best despite being not “fully fit”.
Nadeem in another tweet hoped for better performance next time.
Top four positions in the javelin event
People tweeted in support of him after the development.
This TV presenter hailed Nadeem’s efforts.