Paris, 6 August 2024 (TDI): Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem will play in the qualifying round for the Paris Olympics 2024 Men’s Javelin Throw competition today (Tuesday), as he gears up to challenge India’s Neeraj Chopra for the gold medal at the mega event.
The qualification round will decide the line-up for men’s javelin throw final to be played on Thursday. Athletes achieving the qualifying mark of 84.00m will make the final, according to official Olympics website.
Nadeem, a nine-time international medalist and four-time gold medalist who came 5th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is Pakistan’s best shot at a medal in the ongoing tournament. The Pakistani star athlete won silver at the World Championships in 2023 and gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with a massive 90.18m distance throw.
The last time Pakistan secured a medal at the Olympics was in 1992 in Barcelona, when it won bronze in field hockey.
The official Olympics website said that India’s Neeraj Chopra will commence his men’s javelin throw title defense at the Paris 2024 Olympics from the qualification round on Tuesday.
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Chopra will face stiff competition from not only Nadeem but also Jakub Vadlejch of Czechia, Julius Yego of Kenya, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, and Finland’s Oliver Helander.
If the number of athletes who achieve 84.00m mark is fewer than twelve, the next highest-ranked athletes, up to a total of at least 12, will be included in the final. Should more than twelve athletes achieve the standard, all will progress to the final round.
Nadeem, a poor boy from small town of Khanewal, is one of 9 children of a daily wage laborer who showed great versatility as an athlete from a young age while dabbling in all kinds of sports at school.
