Arshad Nadeem’s participation in the Islamic Solidarity Games not confirmed yet

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s star athlete Arshad Nadeem’s participation in the Islamic Solidarity Games is not confirmed after the World Championships in Tokyo, where the Paris Olympics champion competed shortly after undergoing a calf injury. 

The 28-year-old javelin thrower attended the competition after a brief period of training and rehabilitation following an injury he picked up on July 4 during his training sessions.

While hoping for the season not to end for Arshad just yet, the Islamic Games will start on November 7.

Arshad will be defending his title if he goes to Riyadh, as he bagged the gold medal in the 2023 edition in Konya, Turkey, with a throw of 88.55 m, creating a record of the games.

The Athletics Federation of Pakistan Honorary Secretary, Lt. Col. Shahjehan Mir (Retd), did not confirm Arshad’s participation at the Islamic Games upon inquiry.

He said the AFP, “will take time to decide on this.”

Also read: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2567786/arshad-nadeem-is-still-the-hero-of-the-nation^[1]

In Tokyo, Arshad struggled to qualify for the final^[2] in his first two attempts.

But he managed to hit the mark of 85.20m, which was enough for him to book his place among the top 12 who competed for the podium.

The last edition’s silver medallist, Arshad, finished the javelin throw final in 10th place^[3] with his throw of  82.75m, which was far from his personal best of 92.97 m, or even his season best of 86.40m that he achieved at the Asian Championship in Gumi in May.

Arshad was not the only champion who struggled with performance in Tokyo, at the same venue where he first competed at the Olympics in 2021.

Defending champion Neeraj Chopra also gave his weakest performance in years, in eighth place, and Germany’s Julien Weber, the world number one, also dropped down to fifth place.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott made one of the most remarkable comebacks in athletics’ history when the 2012 Olympic champion finally won the world championship title at the age of 32 with a throw of 88.16m on Thursday.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters finished second, and America’s Curtis Thompson was the bronze medallist, while India’s Sachin Yadav missed out on the podium finish by the skin of his teeth with a throw of 86. 27m compared to Thompson’s 86. 67m.

Arshad trained in Cambridge for a bit, where he had his surgery, and then in Lahore for a few weeks after, but his training was interrupted by torrential rains as well.

Arshad vowed to do his best after his performance in Tokyo, and thanked the nation for supporting his journey while explaining the challenge of competing after an injury in his social media post.

When The Express Tribune asked the AFP about how they are supporting Arshad after the World Athletics Championship, Mir added, “Any comment on the World Athletics Championship will come after analysis.”

Initially, Arshad was not the only athlete poised to compete at the World Olympics Championship in Tokyo.

No Pakistani women at WAC

Sprinter Tameem Khan, who became the fastest woman in the country after competing at the National Athletics Championships 2024 in 11.80 seconds, withdrew from the event after she sustained an injury.

“Federation made a lot of effort to get a quota for her,” Mir said of Tameem’s participation in Tokyo.
“You know, the likes of Sha’carri Richardson, Sherika Jackson, etc, compete in this event. We started efforts almost six months ago to get a universal quota for her. 

“She was preparing well, but unfortunately got injured during training on the day we bought her ticket. 

“She is a girl of very high integrity. She didn’t hide her injury and gave up a lifetime opportunity, for now at least.”

When asked why the federation could not send another woman athlete in her place after the unfortunate injury, he explained that securing the quota is a lengthy process.

“It is a long process, especially visas and final entries. Once that is done, no changes! Moreover, for the kind of vacancy she got, replacements are difficult. World Athletics Events are strictly regulated and they go by rules,” he concluded.

Pakistan did not send any women to the World Championships in a very long time.  The last known participation by any Pakistani woman was in 2009 by Rozina Shafqat in the 400m event.