Pakistan’s ace javelin thrower and 2024 Paris Olympics gold medallist Arshad Nadeem is all set to compete in the finals of the World Athletics Championships on Thursday in Tokyo. This is his first appearance in a tournament since the Asian Athletics Championships, where he won gold.
Even as we go through the official start list, we find that while all the other 11 athletes in the finals have a world ranking, Nadeem doesn’t.
Germany’s Julian Weber is the top-ranked javelin thrower at the moment, followed by double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra and Grenada’s Anderson Peters.
Why doesn’t Nadeem hold a world rank currently?
The Pakistani athlete doesn’t hold a world ranking because he hasn’t taken part in enough World Athletics-sanctioned events,
such as Diamond League meets, to earn the required ranking points.
A persistent calf injury that needed surgery in June and subsequent rehab has limited his ability to compete throughout the season.
World rankings are earned by scoring points at World Athletics-recognised tournaments. Nadeem has missed important events like the Diamond Leagues because of his injury.
Achieving a good result in the World Athletics Championships could earn Nadeem crucial points for future rankings. He started with a throw of 82.73m.
Qualification round at World Championships
While Chopra stormed into the finals after clearing the automatic qualification mark of 84.5m in his very first throw in Group A, Nadeem (85.28m) spent some anxious time before making the grade in his third and final attempt later in Group B.
Chopra is all set to face Nadeem for the first time after the 2024 Paris Olympics, allowing him to avenge his second-place finish in the French capital.
Nadeem had won gold in Paris with a monster throw of 92.97m, while Chopra had a best of 89.45m that night.
Nadeem started with a horrendous 76.99m and followed it up with a 74.17m. It seemed for a while that he, who had won a silver in the last edition in 2023 behind Chopra, wouldn’t make it to the finals.
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