Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan's only hope at Paris Olympics, says he's been struggling to get new javelin for many years

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who is his country’s only hope at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has revealed that he has been unable to get a standard javelin for many years, and the current one he has been using for the last seven-eight years has been the only one.

Nadeem said that he has requested the national federation and his coach in a bid to get a new javelin ahead of the Olympics that starts on 26 July.

“It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics,” Nadeem said. Nadeem had also recently undergone surgery to treat an elbow injury.

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Nadeem said that he had been using the same javelin since he started competing in international competitions in 2015. “When I started off in 2015, competing in international events I got this javelin,” he recalled.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion, Nadeem had skipped last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, citing a knee problem. “For an international athlete aiming to win a medal in the Olympic Games, you need proper equipment and training facilities,” he said.

Nadeem said he was hopeful that after entering into a sponsorship contract with car maker Toyota recently, he would be backed by them. “I will be going to South Africa two months before the Olympics, and training there before August, but I want to take part in some international competitions before the Olympics,” he said.

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With a 90.18m throw, the 27-year-old Pakistani created a new javelin throw record at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham to claim the title. It ended Pakistan’s 60-year wait for a CWG gold medal.

Apart from cricketers, Nadeem is the only recognised sportsman in Pakistan and his efforts to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal, silver in the World Championships and three other medals in Asian competitions are greatly appreciated by people here.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Pakistan Amateur Athletics Federation, Akram Sahi, resigned after a series of controversies hit the federation.

Sahi who served in the PAAF for over two decades said he had resigned for personal reasons.

With PTI inputs