Push harder to defend your title, coach Salman Butt tells Arshad Nadeem

Olympic javelin champion Arshad Nadeem is currently busy in celebrating his historic gold medal win, as corporate sponsors continue to vie for his attention.

It remains unclear when Nadeem will return to the international circuit, but his primary target is the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

Double the effort

While winning global titles is challenging, defending them can be even more difficult. Arshad’s coach, Salman Butt, acknowledged this in an interview with Nukta, emphasizing that Arshad will need to work twice as hard to retain his title.

“Yes, it’s a fact that defending global titles is tough. Arshad has won Olympic gold, and now he’ll have to put in double the effort to defend it,” Butt stated.

Like Nadeem, Butt is riding high on the success, having guided his pupil to an Olympic title — the first for Pakistan in an individual sport and the country's first Olympic gold since the hockey team’s 1984 win in Los Angeles.

Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan's first Olympic gold medalist athlete in the men's javelin, waves to people as they gather to welcome him at his hometown in Mian Channu, Pakistan August 11, 2024.Reuters

Arshad’s record-breaking 92.97m throw at the Paris Olympics has cemented his status as the world's top javelin thrower. His Indian competitor and close friend, Neeraj Chopra, has struggled to break past the 90m mark, a threshold he must surpass to challenge Nadeem.

Next target

With an Olympic gold in hand, Arshad has now set his sights on the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, which he recently expressed eagerness to compete in.

Butt also emphasized the importance of this upcoming competition, saying, “Yes, it’s crucial. Let’s see how it goes.”

In the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Hungary, Arshad earned a silver medal with a throw of 87.82 meters, while India's Neeraj Chopra claimed gold with 88.17 meters.

Butt, a realist, noted that further evaluations will be made once Nadeem returns to training.

“Once Arshad will return to training then we will be in the best possible position to assess and decide what exactly our major plans are and how we should go forward,” Butt said.

When asked about focusing Nadeem on major events like the World Championships, Olympics, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games, Butt said that such decisions would be made by the national federation, though he would offer his input.

The new contender

The image released on May 13, 2024 shows Pakistan’s number two javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan.Facebook/yasirsultanmayo

Meanwhile, Yasir Sultan, Pakistan’s second-best javelin thrower, is showing potential. After struggling with 75m for three years, Yasir finally crossed the 79m mark, securing bronze at last year’s Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok.

Despite missing a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games and failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, Yasir remains a contender. Butt believes next year could be pivotal for Yasir.

“Both Arshad and Yasir are the same age, and next year Yasir should showcase his abilities,” he said.

Yasir, currently trained by Arshad’s former coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari, must reach an 85.50m throw to qualify for the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championship.