LAHORE: Pakistan’s star javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has departed for Paris from here in the wee hours of Thursday to participate in the Diamond League before the Paris Olympics 2024.
Diamond League will be played in the capital city of France on July 7.
The star athlete shared that he was eager to end Pakistan’s medal drought at the Olympics.
“It has been too long that Pakistan has not won any medal at the Olympics, what was it, 1992 that we won it last in hockey? I am aiming to win that medal really, and I will do all that I can in my power to achieve that,” stated Nadeem.
The star athlete resumed his training for the upcoming events last week under his trainer after recovering from a leg injury a few weeks ago.
The leg injury forced Nadeem to withdraw from a couple of events in Finland but the star athlete shared that he is undergoing rehab and is “feeling better”.
“I have to go to Paris to play Diamond League, pray that I stay fit,” said Nadeem.
“I have been suffering from injuries for a long time, but that is part of the game.
“I played an event a year after the Tokyo Olympics. If I am fit, I will try to do my best throw in the Olympics.”
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For the unversed, besides clinching the gold medal at the CWG in 2022, Arshad Nadeem also secured the silver medal in the World Athletics Championship 2023 in Budapest.
He created history by becoming the first Pakistani to earn a medal at the World Athletics Championship.
He also earned his qualification for the Paris Olympics during the World Athletics Championship.
The automatic qualifying benchmark for the Paris Olympics was 85.50 meters, which Nadeem breached with an amazing 86.79-meter throw.
The star player also got his hands on the gold medal in the ongoing 34th National Games last year. He proved his mettle once again as he recorded the longest throw of 78.02m in his third attempt.