KARACHI: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has promised that Arshad Nadeem will be provided a new javelin ahead of the Paris Olympics this year.
While speaking to Geo News, Director General PSB Shoaib Khoso said that Nadeem will be “given money to buy as many javelins as he wants”.
“Arshad is our national hero and has qualified for the Olympics. He will be given the support he needs in terms of buying a javelin,” he added.
Earlier, Nadeem had revealed, while talking to Geo News, that the only international standard javelin that he has is currently out of shape. Consequently, Nadeem is currently training with a locally-made javelin but that could lead to injury.
“I have been training for the Paris Olympics with a locally-made javelin for the past seven to eight years. The international standard javelin which I had is out of shape. For international competitions, I need five to six top quality javelins,” Nadeem said.
“Using sub-standard local javelin could also lead to injuries,” he added.
Nadeem also said that he is unable to prepare properly because “most of the times ground is not available for training due to events”.
The 27-year-old was also hopeful that he will get the opportunity to participate in couple of international events before the Olympics.
Nadeem also said that he will leave for South Africa soon in order to fine-tune his training for Paris Games.
The Mian Channu-born, who recently underwent a knee surgery, is also hopeful about regaining top fitness soon.
Last year at the World Championship in Hungary, Nadeem created history for the country by becoming the first athlete to claim silver medal with a throw of 87.82 metre, just below India’s Neeraj Chopra who won gold with a throw of 88.17m.
During the event, he also qualified for the Paris Olympics. However, last year he missed the Asian Championship, Asian Games and Asian Throwing Championship because of fitness issues.
Nadeem's personal best throw is 90.18 metre which he managed at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022.
The javelin throw event in the Paris Olympics will be held at the France’s biggest venue Stade de France. The qualifying round will be held on August 6 with the final to be conducted on August 8. Arshad finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 84.62m in the final.