Eyeing an elusive Olympic medal

By Syed Irtiza Ali

Arshad Nadeem flew out of Lahore for Paris on Tuesday with his coach stressing that Pakistan’s ace javelin thrower was in good shape.

Salman Butt, who has been supervising Arshad’s preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games, which begins on July 26, is confident that he will give his best in Paris.

Despite being dogged by sweltering Lahore heat and inadequate facilities, Arshad remains as Pakistan’s only medal hope in Paris where the javelin throw event will be held from August 6-9.

Having finished fifth at the Tokyo Games, Arshad won a gold at Commonwealth Games 2022 besides being the first Pakistani to secure a silver at the Word Athletics Championship 2023.

He is now hoping to end Pakistan’s 28-year Olympic medal drought in Paris.

Preparation for Paris Olympics 2024

Butt told Nukta.com that they have worked on four to five techniques during a grueling training period in Lahore.

“Arshad is in good shape. We will try to make him even better. We have worked hard but weather has affected our training. We don’t have indoor air-conditioned facilities. It’s very difficult to train,” he commented.

Arshad, who also won a gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2021, finished fifth at 84.44m at Tokyo 2020, just 0.82m behind the third placed Vietslav Vesley from the Czech Republic.

Recent Performances

On July 7, Arshad competed in the Diamond League in Paris and finished fourth with a throw recorded at 84.21, 0.83m behind Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch who finished third. Butt labelled the performance as “satisfactory.”

“If I say in one word then it’s satisfactory, there are no excuses as before going for Paris, we had done only one technique. We had an injury, it recurred, and nothing more was possible with this as there are 15 to 20 techniques,” he said.

Training Schedule

After landing in Paris, Arshad will roughly have 12 days to put final shape to his Olympic preparations. Butt is hopeful that they will make the most of this crucial window of opportunity.

“We are moving to better weather conditions in Paris and there we will utilize around 12 days as per our plans. It's enough time to train,” Butt said.

“As you go near the competition you reduce the load and it makes the movement faster and reduces repetition. What we need is speed, which includes accurate acceleration and velocity, is necessary to achieve success.” he added.

Arshad’s top rivals in Paris

On August 6, Arshad will compete in the qualifying phase, while the finals will be on August 8.

In the lead up to the Olympics, Arshad has been facing fitness problems and it remains to be seen whether he will be at his best in Paris. It’s difficult to predict the outcome, but a throw of around 90m should help him win an elusive medal for Pakistan.

But it’s easier said than done.

There are several other serious medal contenders led by defending Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. The Indian thrower clinched a gold in Tokyo with a second throw at 87.58m – 0.91m ahead of the silver medalist Johannes Vetter from Czech Republic. In the upcoming Olympics too, he is India’s genuine hope of a gold medal.

Jakub Vadlejch: The Czech athlete has been ever-present with Chopra, as he came second in Tokyo. He overcame Neeraj in the Qatar Diamond League 2024 in May as he ended just 0.2m ahead with a third-round throw at 88.38m.

Julian Weber:The German thrower is powerfully-built and will look to make up for the lost opportunity in Tokyo where he came agonizingly close – finishing fourth. He won a silver medal at the European championships behind Vadlejch.