Arshad Nadeem eyes major events after resuming training

LAHORE: The country’s premier javelin thrower and the Commonwealth Games record holder Arshad Nadeem has resumed training here following a few days of Eid-ul-Fitr break in order to prepare for this year’s major events.

“Yes I have resumed training here at the Punjab Stadium,” Arshad told ‘The News’ in an informal chat on Wednesday here at the PSB Coaching Centre where he is staying. 

“I train for around five hours daily. I also use running machine for running purposes, gymnasium and swimming pool facility is also available to me here at Nishtar Park. 

“I'm throwing javelin but not so vigorously. I plan to try it in the next ten days." 

Arshad Nadeem is the biggest medal hope of Pakistan at this year’s Asian Games slated to be held in Guangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.

Before that he also is set to feature in the Asian Championships to be held in Pattaya, Thailand, from July 12-16 and the World Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19-27.

Arshad, so far, has a few productive years as a javelin thrower. He won golds in the last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Islamic Games in Turkey. He also won bronze in the 2017 Baku Islamic Games and 2018 18th Asian Games in Indonesia. He also pulled off a massive performance in the 2019 Nepal South Asian Games which also earned for him a seat in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics and also ended fifth in the World Championships in the US last year. 

Before setting his eyes solely on the major events, the 34th National Games is Arshad's immediate target where he wants to flex his muscles and earn gold for his department WAPDA.

“I will assess the situation. If there is no fitness issue then I will feature in the National Games. And if I see that it will be dangerous for me then I will skip it,” he said.

“The key task ahead is to achieve top fitness first and then show my mettle. If I remain fit then I believe that I will be on the victory podium in the Asian Championships, Asian Games and World Championships,” he added. 

India’s Neeraj Chopra, who made his country proud by lifting gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held with a year’s delay in 2021, will be the main opponent of Arshad in the Asian Games and any one of them may pick the gold in the quadrennial event in Hangzhou.

Since making his South Asian Games debut in 2016 in India with a bronze medal, Arshad has never returned without a medal in the events in the Asian circuit. A few months ago, he underwent elbow and knee laser surgeries in London and is making his all out effort to achieve top recovery before the major events.

He developed pain in his left knee while attempting a jump here during training just before leaving for South Africa for training early last year. His elbow injury occurred in Iran in early 2021 in an international meet in Mashhad in which he had claimed gold with his then best effort of 86.38m which he latter broke with a stunning 90.18 metre throw in Birmingham. Arshad said that there is always a ten-metre difference in what he does in training and what he achieves in an international meet.

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