Pakistan’s finest athlete Arshad Nadeem is aiming to secure the country’s first Olympic medal in decades. The last time Pakistan won an Olympic medal was in 1992 in Barcelona, where they earned a bronze in field hockey.
Nadeem advanced to the final round of the competition on Tuesday with an impressive 86.59-meter throw in the qualifying round. To reach the final round, athletes needed to achieve a minimum distance of 84 meters. The final is scheduled for Thursday.
“I have qualified for the final of the Paris Olympics 2024 thanks to your prayers,” Nadeem shared in a video message on his Instagram account. “Please continue to pray for me. The final is on August 8 at 11:25 pm. Keep praying so I can perform well and win a medal for Pakistan.”
Nadeem is a nine-time international medalist and four-time gold medalist who came fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Pakistani star athlete won silver at the World Championships last year and gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with a massive 90.18m throw.
A Look at Arshad Nadeem’s Career
Arshad Nadeem, a Pakistani native from the Punjab province, turned to javelin throw after pursuing a short career in the shot put and discus throw. He made the decision to pursue a career in javelin throw after some convincing from his father, Muhammad Ashraf, due to his outstanding accomplishments at the Punjab Youth Festivals and an inter-board event.
Nadeem started participating in international javelin throw events in 2015. In 2016, he received a scholarship from World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, enabling him to train at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Mauritius.
The Pakistani athlete won his first medal, a bronze, at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku in 2017. The following year, he won another bronze medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta, where he set a national record with an 80.75-meter throw.
In 2019, Nadeem entered the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, as the only Pakistani athlete in contention and set another national record with an 81.52-meter throw. Later that year, he broke the national record again with an 83.65-meter throw to secure the gold medal at the National Games in Peshawar. Nadeem capped off 2019 with a gold medal win at the South Asian Games in Nepal, where he set yet another national record with an 86.29-meter throw, which also became a South Asian Games record.
In 2021, Nadeem became the first-ever Pakistani track-and-field athlete to qualify for the Olympics, representing Pakistan at the Tokyo Olympics. He made history by becoming the first Pakistani athlete to qualify for any track-and-field event final in the Olympics, finishing fifth with a throw of 84.62 meters.
In 2022, Nadeem participated in the World Athletics Championships as the sole representative of his nation, finishing fifth with a throw of 86.16 meters. Later that year, he made history at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by setting a Commonwealth Games record with a 90.18-meter throw, becoming the first South Asian to cross the 90-meter mark. This record-breaking throw earned him a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event, marking Pakistan’s first gold medal in athletics at the Commonwealth Games since 1962.
