Shaheer Ahmed
“I didn’t just throw it. “If I had done that, the spear would have gone farther!” said Pakistan’s great javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem after his legendary performance at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Friday, where he qualified for the final and also earned a spot in the 2016 Olympics in Paris.
Even though he was holding back, Arshad had a great throw of 86.79 meters, which got him right into the final.
He is still not 100 percent healthy, but he is in a good mood and wants to win the medal in Sunday’s final to make his country happy. It was the second-best throw after India’s Neeraj Chopra’s 88.77m.
This means that, at least in the qualification round, South Asians rule a sport that is played mainly by Europeans. Arshad wants people to pray for him and Chopra for Sunday, and he also wishes them the best.
What a day! Tiring yet rewarding. Like to thank Allah for this giving me the ability to go this far. This was the first time in the history of Pakistan that any Pakistani athlete won a medal at the World athletics championships pic.twitter.com/DaZDeRNyq7
— Arshad Nadeem (@ArshadOlympian1) August 28, 2023
“I want the whole country to pray for me all the time, and I want to be number one in the world and world champion,” said the friendly giant.
“I want my friends all over the world to do the same, and I want to wish Neeraj bhai the best. This is good for our sport, and we both think we can win medals,” Arshad told The Express Tribune in the early hours of Saturday morning in Budapest.
He said that on Friday when the competition was going on, everyone was looking for a place to sit in the shade. “The weather has been so hot that everyone wanted to be in the shade. Between the three tries, I was also thinking about where to sit next.
The fight for gold between Pakistan and India went all the way to the last round, where Arshad Nadeem tried to up the stakes but could only throw 81.86m. Now that Pakistan had finally won a medal at the biggest event in sports, he fell on his knees.
Read More: Arshad Nadeem bags gold medal after 60 years
