Arshad Nadeem qualifies for the World Athletics Championships javelin throw final

KARACHI
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem qualified for the 2025 World Athletics Championship javelin throw final with an attempt of 85.28 metres.
He was in action for the first time after the Asian Championship, as he will be vying for his spot in the final of the World Athletics Championship javelin throw event in Tokyo.
Arshad had a tough time finding his best for the qualification as it came in the crucial third and final round of attempts.
He was required to hit the 84.50 m mark, and he failed to get it in his first two attempts, which were 76.99m and 74.17m, respectively.
Group B was dominated by the Paris Olympics bronze medallist Anderson Peters, as he managed to secure his spot in the final with a throw of 89.53 m in his second attempt.
Meanwhile, the ever-so-charismatic Julius Yego led the pack in the first round of the attempts, booking his place automatically with a throw of 85.96m, and he forewent the following two attempts strategically, preserving his strength as the athletes will be back on the field for the final on September 18.
There is only a break of around 24 hours in between the qualification and the final.
There were four automatic spots that were booked from Group B, apart from Arshad, Anderson, and Yego, American Curtis Thompson was efficient with 84.72m throw.
From Group A, Neeraj Chopra, Julien Weber, and Dawid Wegner directly qualified, meeting the qualification standard of 84.50m.
Neeraj hit the mark on 84.85m.
At the end of the qualification round, Anderson, Julius, and Weber were the top three throwers.
Wegner, Arshad, and Neeraj were on fourth, fifth, sixth places, respectively.
But the qualification results do not always reflect the true abilities of the throwers and how they would perform on the day of the final.
There will be top 12 throwers from qualification round who will compete for the podium finishes.
Neeraj will be looking to defend his title, while Arshad would want to improve his record from silver to gold.
The Japan National Stadium is the same venue where Neeraj won his Olympic gold medal in 2021, and Arshad had finished fifth.
Retruning to competition after injury
Arshad is coming into the competition on the back of an injury that had led to his calf surgery in England.
The injury prevented him from participating in the Diamond League meets in Switzerland and Poland, but he resumed training by August in preparation for the World Athletics Championships.
His only event after winning the historic gold medal at the Paris Olympics was the Asian Athletics Championships in Korea, where he posted his best throw of the season, 86.40, in Gumi.
On Wednesday, at the qualification round, even if he reaches the same mark as his throw in the Asian Championships, he would book his spot in the final.
“Arshad is in the calibre of people who can throw at 90 metres any time, so my very confident guess is that he will be qualifying within the first two throws in the qualification round,” Arshad’s former coach, Fiaz Bokhari, who was also present at the Olympic champion’s last training session in Lahore on September, told The Express Tribune.
“Arshad’s chances of winning the medal are as good as any other top athlete in the competition, and it will be a close competition by every standard. Arshad was looking like he was in good shape; he was agile and running well, and he could easily meet the qualification target of 84.50m.”
The 28-year-old is slotted in Group B of the men’s event, much like the last time at the World Championships in Budapest 2023.