Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan's Prime Contender For Medal At Paris Olympics, Struggling To Get New Javelin

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem is the country's prime medal contender at the Paris Olympics.

Arshad Nadeem ended Pakistan's six-decade wait for a Commonwealth gold at the 2022 Birmingham games. ( Image Source :Getty )

Star Pakistan javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, who for all practical purposes remains the country's prime contender and one of the few glimmers of hope to secure a podium finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic games, has revealed that he has not been able to get a new international standard javelin for the past several years. Nadeem, who went under the knife owing to an elbow injury, said that he owns only one javelin which he has been using for the last seven-eight years.

"It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics," he said as quoted in a PTI report on Thursday (March 7).

"When I started off in 2015, competing in international events I got this javelin," he stated.

"For an international athlete aiming to win a medal in the Olympic Games, you need proper equipment and training facilities," he said. However, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion remained hopeful that his new sponsorship contract with Toyota would help him get the javelin.

"I will be going to South Africa two months before the Olympics, and training there before August, but I want to take part in some international competitions before the Olympics," he said.

The 27-year-old athlete who had skipped the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou, China because of a knee issue had etched history when he breached the hallowed 90-metre mark in javelin. His best throw of 90.18 metres at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham helped him win the coveted gold, ending Pakistan's six-decade wait for a Commonwealth gold.

Chairman Of Pakistan Amateur Athletics Federation Akram Sahi Resigns

Meanwhile, Athletics Federation of Pakis­tan chairman retired Major Gen­eral Akram Sahi resigned after a series of controversies impacted the body. He did not give any reason for stepping down in his letter addressed to the president and secretary of the federation but rather said that he was resigning owing to personal reasons.