CHENNAI: Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem has had a horrendous time after failing to register a decent throw at the Commonwealth Games and crashing out with a 77.41m in Glasgow. He finished ninth and was shadow of his 92.93m throw at the Paris Olympic final in 2024.
The Pakistan javelin thrower has been struggling ever since with injuries and seems to have not recovered until now. Nadeem had to face a backlash back home after the debacle and even his federation apparently distanced itself from him. However, Nadeem was forced to clarify his position through a press conference where he reportedly said that no athlete would want to lose on his own.
“No athlete would want to not perform,” he said during an interaction. “I wanted to give my best but could not. I had prepared tirelessly for this competition staying in Pakistan. Here it is warm but in Glasgow it was cold.” The run up is crucial to his throw and Nadeem said that because of the conditions he was not able to get it right. “You may have seen in many of my previous competitions that my run-up is usually very smooth, but this time it wasn't because my body had become stiff due to the cold conditions. My fitness was good and my health was fine,” he reportedly said.
Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pahthirage won gold with 89.75m throw, while Neeraj Chopra claimed silver with 85.83m. India’s Yash Vir Singh with 85.41m made it two-three for India.
“I had hoped the Switzerland event would give me good preparation, but the weather there was wet and the field was tacky, so I could not get the desired result there either,” he told the media in Pakistan.
Nadeem also urged his fans to not lose hope and would make all efforts to make a comeback during the Asian Games next month. “My request to the fans and the media is not to lose heart and not to stop supporting me,” he said.