Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem has decided to train abroad ahead of the upcoming World Athletics Ultimate Championship. According to sources, Arshad Nadeem will not participate in the Lausanne Diamond League on August 21, despite being included in the event’s entry list.
The Pakistani javelin thrower will instead travel to South Africa for a training camp. Nadeem has trained in South Africa twice before. Nadeem will leave for South Africa on the first available flight once he obtains his visa. After completing his training there, he will compete in the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship will be held in Budapest from September 6 to 14. Following the championship, Arshad Nadeem is expected to participate in the Asian Games.
It is worth mentioning here that defending Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem failed to retain his men’s javelin title after finishing ninth in the final at Scotstoun Stadium. Nadeem, who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a remarkable throw of 90.18 metres, began his title defence with a foul on his opening attempt.
He managed to register a mark of 77.41 metres on his second attempt, but the throw was not enough to keep him among the leading contenders, as he dropped to ninth place by the end of the round. The 29-year-old Pakistani athlete needed a stronger performance in his third round to remain in medal contention, but managed a throw of just 75.39 metres, leaving him in ninth place and ending his hopes of winning a medal.
Sri Lanka’s Ramesh Tharanga led the competition after four rounds with a best throw of 89.75 metres, while India’s Neeraj Chopra was in second with 85.83 metres. Chopra had initially topped the standings after the first two rounds before being overtaken by Tharanga. The Pakistani athlete had qualified for the final after finishing seventh in the qualification round with a best throw of 78.63 metres. None of the athletes managed to meet the automatic qualifying mark of 84 metres during the three-throw qualification round. As a result, the 12 athletes with the best throws advanced to the final.