Star javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem created history on Sunday when he became the first Pakistani to win his country’s first medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary with his best throw of 87.82m.
India’s Neeraj Chopra bagged the gold medal with his best throw of 88.17m.
At the start of the game, Nadeem didn’t get off to a good start with his throw reaching just 74.80m, however, he bounced back with an impressive 82.81m in his second attempt.
It was the Pakistani thrower’s third throw which was his season’s best as he reached 87.82m.
While the Mian Chanu-born Olympian failed to clear 80m in his fifth attempt, he still managed to throw 81.86m in his sixth and final attempt.
The athlete’s medal was confirmed when Germany’s Julian Weber failed to surpass his mark of 86.79 as his final throw was less than 80m.
A foul by Jakub Widlich in his last attempt confirmed that Nadeem would be in the final two.
In his fourth attempt, the 26-year-old could only reach 87.12m, which was far short of his expectations.
Earlier on Saturday, Nadeem qualified for the final of the World Athletics Championships with his best throw of 86.79 metres.
The Olympics benchmark was 85.50 meters which Nadeem managed to cross successfully.
The latest win came after Nadeem came into the limelight when he finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, a feat that changed the athlete’s entire life, leaving a huge impact on his personality.
Last year, Nadeem also secured the fifth position in the World Championships in the US.
Soon after, he recorded his best throw of 90.18 meters at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which is also a record throw for the quadrennial event.
The star player then underwent elbow and left knee surgery in London, took time off to rehabilitate, and returned to competitive action at the 34th National Games in Quetta in May.
He suffered a major setback in this event when he injured his right knee, forcing him to withdraw from the Asian Championships in Bangkok.
