Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem threw a massive 86.40m to win gold in the men’s javelin final at the Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi, South Korea on Saturday.
India’s Sachin Yadav took the silver with a 85.16m and Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took home bronze with an 83.75m throw.
After leading the field in the first few throw’s, Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage was bumped off the podium to finish fourth with an 83.27m throw.
Nadeem, who holds the Olympic record after throwing a monstrous 92.97m throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics, narrowly missed breaking the championship record, which stands at 86.72m.
Nadeem threw a 75.64m and 76.80m on his first and second attempts respectively, while Yasir threw 70.53m and 75.39m.
All eyes were on Nadeem as he stepped up to the field for his first throw ranked last in the throwing order. ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ was blaring in the stadium as the crowd anticipated a massive throw from the javelin superstar, who is competing internationally for the first time since last year’s Paris Olympics.
In Yesterday’s heats, Nadeem threw an impressive 86.34m throw on his first and only attempt to cruise into today’s final. Yasir had thrown a 76.07m in the heats.
After he punched his ticket to the final, Nadeem took to Instagram to say: “As always I would need your support and prayers.”
In August last year, Nadeem set a new Olympic record and won a gold medal in the men’s javelin final in Paris with a 92.97m throw.
Nadeem will soon be going to England to prepare for September’s World Athletics Championships.
More to follow
