World Athletics Championships: Arshad requests prayers before final

"My request is that please pray for my victory at the World Athletics Championships final," Pakistan's medal hope, javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, says as he will be leaving his heart out on the field in Eugene, Oregon on the evening of July 23 in the US, which is early morning on July 24 in Pakistan.

Arshad became the first Pakistani ever to reach the final of the World Athletics Championships when he qualified for the final of the javelin throw event after finishing ninth in the qualifying round on the evening of July 21 in Oregon.

The feat illuminates a bit more as this is Arshad's first event after the Tokyo Olympics, where he again created history for Pakistan as he finished fifth. He was the first athlete from the country to reach the finals and prior to that he was also the first to get direct qualification to the Summer Games. Arshad is also playing with an elbow injury he sustained last year during the training for Olympics.

In his group in Oregon, Arshad's first attempt was 76.15m, followed by 74.38m. But he finally hit 81.71m on his third try to join the top 12 performers who qualified for the final.

“It is not a small feat to qualify for the final of the World Championships. In fact, it is a huge thing for me,” Arshad told The Express Tribune on the morning of the final in Oregon. “I’m asking for prayers. I really can’t say anything else right now. I need prayers at this point.”

When asked about what was his feeling when he was competing in the qualifier, he said that he had a positive outlook. “I had a good feeling that I’ll make it.”

Arshad is ranked at 31 in the world rankings for the 2022 season.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters grabbed top place with a throw of 89.91m in the qualifying round.  He was followed by Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, who recorded an 88.39m throw. He is ranked third in the world.

Germany’s Julian Weber secured the third sport with 87.28m. He is world number five. Meanwhile, world number two Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch was the fourth best player with an 85.23m throw.

Barring four, the rest of the throwers failed to achieve the 83.50m standard for qualification, and Arshad made the cut courtesy a decent throw in his third attempt.

Arshad has been pushing barriers for Pakistani athletics. He is a unicorn for Pakistani sports landscape where after boxer Hussain Shah, only Arshad has proved his mettle among the top competitors in the world.

However, it wasn't an easy ride. Arshad was born and brought up in Mian Channu, Khanewal, and from humble beginnings he made it to the Tokyo Olympics last year. 

This year he trained with top South African athletics coach Terseus Liebenberg in Johannesburg for two months, particularly for the World Championships.