Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem dominated the men’s javelin throw at the Asian Athletics Championship, securing gold with a massive throw of 86.40 meters on Saturday. This win marks Pakistan’s sole medal at the championship and adds another accolade to Nadeem’s impressive career.

Nadeem’s victory was hard-fought. He started slowly, with throws of 75.64m and 76.80m in his first two attempts. However, he surged ahead with an 85.57m throw in his third attempt, securing the top spot. He followed this with throws of 83.99m and 83.44m before delivering his winning throw of 86.40m on his final attempt. His performance narrowly missed breaking the championship record of 86.72m.

India’s Sachin Yadav claimed silver with a personal best throw of 85.16m, and Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama took bronze, also achieving a personal best of 83.75m. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage and India’s Yash Vir Singh finished fourth and fifth respectively, both also achieving personal bests.

Nadeem’s coach, Salman Butt, attributed the success to Nadeem’s resilience, noting that this was his first competition of the season and that a longer recovery period might have yielded an even better result. The win was met with enthusiastic celebrations from the Pakistani crowd, who waved flags and cheered as Nadeem competed.

This gold medal adds to Nadeem’s impressive list of achievements, including gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and silver at the 2023 World Championships. He will next compete at the World Athletics Championships in September after a period of training in England. His performance has earned him widespread praise, with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both issuing congratulatory statements.