ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem created history on Wednesday when he went through to the final of the men’s javelin at the Tokyo Olympics, to be held on August 7.
India’s Neeraj Chopra, the 2018 Commonwealth champion, also qualified with his first throw of the morning at 86.65 meters, while world leader Germany’s Johannes Vetter also advanced.
Nadeem is the first Pakistani athlete in history to qualify for the final of any track and field event at the Olympics.
The Pakistan Olympic Association said Nadeem had, with a “tremendous throw of 85.16 meters,” secured third place in the qualifying round.
“Lt. Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan, President Pakistan Olympic Association congratulates Mr. Arshad Nadeem and his coach Mr. Syed Fiaz Hussain Bokhari for exceptional performance securing third position in the qualifying round and expressed best wishes for the finals,” POA said in a tweet.
Lt. Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan, President Pakistan Olympic Association congratulates Mr. Arshad Nadeem and his coach Mr. Syed Fiaz Hussain Bokhari for exceptional performance securing third position in the qualifying round and expressed best wishes for the finals. pic.twitter.com/xlOYhpZzZ9
— Pakistan Olympic Association (@NOCPakistan) August 4, 2021
“He was placed in group B for the contest in which the athlete had to throw a minimum of 83.5m to directly qualify for the final,” Geo News reported. “Only six athletes could do so, and Arshad was one of them while the rest of the six athletes advanced to the finals on basis of their respective farthest throw.”
In his first attempt, the 24-year-old Pakistani athlete could reach the 78.5m mark but in the second attempt, he “created history with a throw of 85.16m that also placed him on top of group B.”
Earlier this year, Arshad threw the javelin to a distance of 86.39m, his personal best, setting a national record during the Imam Reza championship in Iran. Earlier in 2019, he threw 86.29m at the South Asian Games in Nepal.
“So, one can safely say that Arshad’s best is yet to come and hope that the best comes at the final on 7th August, which is scheduled to commence at 4:00pm Pakistan time,” Geo News said.
The javelin world record at the Olympics is 90.57m by Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen.
