Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan's last hope for Olympic glory, hailed on social media

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Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem pictured seconds before his throw. Photo: File
Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem pictured seconds before his throw. Photo: File

Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem has impressed fans at home and abroad after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Men's javelin throw final on Tuesday. 

In his first attempt, the 24-year-old Pakistani athlete could reach the 78.5m mark but in the second attempt, Arshad created history with a throw of 85.16m that also placed him on top of group B.

This was overall the third-best throw in the contest after India’s Neeraj Chopra (86.65m) and Germany’s Johannes Vetter (85.64m).

Arshad Nadeem is the first-ever Pakistani athlete to qualify for the final of any track and field event in the Olympics.

Twitter trends in Pakistan.
Twitter trends in Pakistan.

Pakistanis on social media are looking towards Nadeem to make the nation proud by ending its Olympic drought and bagging the first medal of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 when he performs in the final round on August 7. 

Azhar Mashwani called on the Pakistani athlete to bring home a "long-awaited Olympic medal". 

Politician Andleeb Abbas shared a video clip of Nadeem's throw, noticing the "grit written all on his face". 

Akber Ali seemed confident that Arshad Nadeem would make the country proud on Saturday, saying that "it's coming home". 

Nadeem's 85.16m throw was overall the third-best throw in the contest after India’s Neeraj Chopra (86.65m) and Germany’s Johannes Vetter (85.64m).

This is also Arshad’s third-best throw in a competition.

Earlier this year, Arshad threw the javelin to a distance of 86.39m for his personal best and a national record during the Imam Reza championship in Iran. Earlier in 2019, he threw 86.29m at South Asian Games in Nepal.

So, one can safely say that Arshad’s best is yet to come and hope that the best comes at the final on 7th August, which is scheduled to commence at 4:00pm Pakistan time.