Arshad Nadeem claims gold in Iran, improves own national record

Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem on Monday claimed another gold medal, improved his personal best and also set a new national record while partaking in the International Imam Reza Cup in Iranian city of Mashhad.

Arshad surpassed his previous best throw of 86.29m by managing an 86.38m throw in the event which also fetched for him a gold medal. “I am very happy and it is through prayers of our nation that I have bettered my personal best and set a new national record,” Arshad told The News from Mashhad.

“It's great and I am proud that through just three months training I managed to do my personal best,” Arshad said. “You can say that it was an Asian level event as athletes of around 11 to 12 countries participated. My throw is also the best of this event,” said Arshad whose throws break-up was 78.85m, X, 70m, 84.07m, 86.38m and X.

Arshad's throw surprised the other participating nations as the silver and bronze medallist were 10 to 12 metres behind him. Meanwhile, Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) president Maj Gen (retd) Akram Sahi was happy with Arshad’s feat.

“We are very very satisfied with Arshad’s progress and it has proved that we are proceeding in the right direction,” Sahi told 'The News'. “With the way he has improved we are now very much hopeful that if he goes well he will win a medal in the Tokyo Olympics,” said Sahi, a former international athlete.

Arshad will now move to Turkey to undergo a three-week long training under World Athletics coach Viktor of Kazakhstan. He will be accompanied by Salman Butt, a former international hammer thrower and former national champion.

“Yes, Salman is the secretary of Punjab Athletics Association and is US-qualified and he will help Arshad to communicate with coach Viktor during training,” Sahi said. He said that he is hopeful that Viktor’s tips would further bring improvement in Arshad’s performance. Arshad had been receiving tips from Viktor during his last three-month training in Lahore.

Sahi said that if situation improves and border restrictions are eased, Arshad will be sent to Kazakhstan. He said if he is sent to Kazakhstan then his coach Fayyaz Bukhari will also be sent with him.

“But in Turkey we want to keep Arshad only under the watch of Viktor who has the ability to further bring improvement in Arshad’s performance graph,” Sahi said. Arshad qualified for Tokyo Olympics when he managed a 86.29m throw in the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal.

Arshad was then sent to China along with four other athletes for training which was cut short due to outbreak of Covid-19. He was then put in a camp at Lahore but it was disbanded due to countrywide lockdown.

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