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Tuesday December 24, 2024

Arshad Nadeem wins silver medal for Pakistan at World Athletics Championship

This is the first-ever medal for Pakistan in the World Athletics Championship secured by Arshad Nadeem

By Faizan Lakhani & Web Desk
August 28, 2023
Pakistans Arshad Nadeem competes in the mens javelin throw final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 27, 2023. — AFP
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem competes in the men's javelin throw final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 27, 2023. — AFP

Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem secured a silver medal for Pakistan in the Javelin Throw competition of the World Athletics Championship on Sunday with his 87.82-meter throw in Hungary's capital Budapest.

This is the first-ever medal for Pakistan in the World Athletics Championship.

India's Neeraj Chopra was able to secure the gold medal with his best throw of 88.17 meters.

At the start of the game, Arshad Nadeem could not have a good start with his throw only reaching 74.80 meters, however, he made a comeback with a remarkable 82.81 meters on his second attempt.

It was the Pakistani thrower's third throw which was the biggest breakthrough as he reached as far as 87.82 meters — his season's best.

While the Mian-Channu-born Olympian's fifth attempt could not reach the 80-meter mark, nevertheless he managed to throw an 81.86m in his sixth and last attempt.

In his fourth attempt, the 26-year-old could only reach 87.12m, much less than he was expecting.

The athlete's medal was confirmed when Germany’s Julian Weber failed to better his mark of 86.79 as his final throw fell short of 80m.

A foul by Jakub Vadlejch in his final attempt confirmed that Nadeem will be in the final two.

Earlier Saturday, Nadeem qualified for the final of the World Athletics Championship with his best throw of 86.79m.

The benchmark for the Olympics was 85.50m, which Nadeem managed to cross successfully.

The latest win comes after Nadeem came into the spotlight shot when he finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics, a feat that changed the entire life of the athlete, marking great influence on his personality.

Nadeem then also finished fifth in the World Championship in the US last year. 

Soon afterwards he recorded his best throw of 90.18 metres in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham which is also a record throw of the quadrennial event.

The star athlete then underwent elbow and left knee surgery in London, took time in his rehab and returned to the competitive field in May at the 34th National Games in Quetta.

In this event, he received a heavy blow when he injured his right knee, later forcing him to skip the Asian Championship held in Bangkok.