And unluckily Arshad Nadeem failed to deliver when it mattered the most. The country’s premier javelin thrower managed an 84.62 metre throw in the Tokyo Olympics finals to finish fifth. Had he produced his personal best throw he could have landed at the victory podium in the meet where some global heroes like Germany’s Johannes Vetter also failed to deliver.And it meant Pakistan returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the seventh successive time. Pakistan last won an Olympic medal – a bronze in men’s hockey — in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Arshad managed throws of 82.40m, X and 84.62m in the first three rounds to make a place in the top eight athletes. He was placed fourth when he moved to top eight. However, there he faltered with throws of 82.91m and 81.98m and a foul which shattered his hopes.

Arshad’s personal best throw is 86.38 metre which he managed during an international event in Iran in April this year.

It was India’s Neeraj Chopra’s day as the golden boy created history with the first ever athletics medal when he finished with a gold with a throw of 87.58 metre. This is only the second gold for India in individual sports in the Olympics history. The first was won by shooter Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Neeraj’s score-line read: 87.03m, 87.58m, 76.79m, X, X and 84.24m.

Former world silver medallist Czech Republic’s Jacob Vadlejch got silver with a throw of 86.67m, an effort which came in his fifth attempt.

His throws break-up was: 83.98m, X, X, 82.86m, 86.67m and X.

Former world champion Vesely Vitezslav, also of Czech Republic, claimed bronze with a throw of 85.44m. His throws tally was: 79.73m, 80.30m, 85.44m, X, 84.98m and X.

Julian Weber of Germany ended fourth with a throw of 85.30m. His other efforts were: 85.30m, 77.90m, 78.00m, 83.10m, 85.15m and 75.72m. The world’s top thrower and former world champion Johannes Vetter failed to make it to the final phase, finishing overall ninth with two fouls in the first three rounds. His throws were: 82.52m, X and X.

As many as 12 throwers took part in the finals. At the end of the third round top eight were shortlisted for the final phase. This was the first time in Arshad’s career that he failed to pull off his best.

Arshad looked under pressure and that affected his performance. He told me in an interview after his shock result that when he attempted his third throw he felt giddy and could not see anything. There could be many reasons for this. It was indeed a high-voltage final and being an Olympics debutant, he was under a lot of pressure, with so much media buzz at home. The boy from Mian Channu told me that it was a dream which came and vanished within no time. He was extremely depressed. I know Arshad very closely. He does not conceal anything from me. I have been covering him for the last six years. He is a simple, straight forward individual, committed to his job. When he blasted his way into the finals by topping his group with a throw of 85.16 metre he was more than confident that he would be able to win a medal. But luck did not favour him. It happens in sports. He himself says that his body did not respond and his coach also told me that his body did not respond in the finals. He said it happened with him for the first time in his career. It happens, particularly when you play at such a major stage when the whole nation is backing you. Arshad did not want to disappoint his nation and that feelings in his heart put more pressure on him. His coach Syed Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari had told him that he should not take pressure and just produce his personal best. And had he done that there was a confirmed medal. But still it was a valiant effort from the 2018 Indonesia Asian Games bronze medallist. Arshad has emerged as a future hope and will pull off major medals in future events. He says that he will now focus on the World Championship to be held next year. He says that he has learnt from the Tokyo Olympics failure.

Fighting bravely against such an experienced pack and polished athletes in the Olympics has made Arshad Pakistan’s hero. He was accorded a hero’s welcome upon his arrival in Lahore on Thursday. And he will never forget this moment. He was honoured with cash awards from different cordons. He was extremely loved at his hometown in Mian Channu upon his arrival. Arshad won the hearts of the people of Pakistan, brought them together and has performed his real duty as an athlete.

This was a rare moment when the whole nation glued to the television channels and watched Arshad in action during the finals. Thank you Arshad for bringing us together. Hope you will keep doing so in future.

It reminds me of Pakistan’s golden era of hockey when people used to impatiently wait for the Green-shirts matches. Everyone was seen talking about Arshad and was waiting for his finals. This shows how important such heroes are – they unite us as a nation. We should realise the importance of sports in the nation’s building.

Now the 2024 Paris Olympics should be the next target for Arshad. He will have to take athletics more seriously, remove his deficiencies, improve his work ethics and will have to emerge stronger and tougher for his next target where people will expect a medal from him.

His responsibility has now increased manifold. And I think Arshad knows this. He is a complete package. The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) should make a plan for him for the next three years. Before the Paris Olympics he will have to appear in the World Championship, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

His coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari also deserves accolades. Very few people credit him. It’s not fair. He is the one who took Arshad under his wings six years ago when he used to throw around 54 metre. Fayyaz brought him to this level where he offered tough resistance to the world’s best lot who had trained more scientifically and in a standard way.

Arshad had suffered from Covid-19 in Turkey where he had gone for training last April. When he returned he told Fayyaz Bukhari that his body was too weak to prepare for the Olympics which was hardly two months away. But Fayyaz motivated him and told him that he could do it. He started working with him from zero. Arshad’s performance in the Olympics is a big proof of Fayyaz’s hard work. The coach should also be acknowledged and encouraged by the government. Fayyaz, also a former athlete, serves WAPDA in Grade-16. For the last three years, he has not been given a promotion. He deserves that. He has done a great job for the whole nation by preparing Arshad in an environment which lacks proper training facilities, equipment and standard nutrition.

In future only one coach should not be sent with such athletes. There should be support staff so that athletes could be properly looked after. We should take such big events more seriously.

73.alam@gmail.com