By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Olympic and Commonwealth champion Arshad Nadeem booked his place in Friday’s javelin throw final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on Thursday, overcoming blustery conditions at Scotstoun Stadium to progress in seventh position.
The 29-year-old, who arrives in Scotland as one of the most decorated throwers in the competition’s history, opened with 78.63m — a mark that held up as his best of the session after he fouled his second attempt and managed only 75.65m with his third. It was enough. A stiff headwind kept every competitor below the automatic qualifying standard of 84 metres throughout the round, meaning the 12-strong final field was instead drawn from the best marks across the board.
Nadeem will not have to look far for familiar rivals when he returns to the circle on Friday evening. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage set the pace in qualifying with a throw of 82.84m, well clear of the field, with Grenada’s reigning world champion Anderson Peters next best on 81.29m. South Africa’s Douw Smit (80.64m) and England’s Benjamin East (80.38m) rounded out the only other athletes to clear 80 metres on the day.
India go into the final with a three-pronged threat. Neeraj Chopra, arguably the biggest name in the draw alongside Nadeem, needed only two throws to find his rhythm, improving from an opening 76.28m to 79.61m to secure fifth spot. He is joined by compatriots Rohit Yadav (78.37m) and Yashveer Singh (78.36m), both of whom scraped through inside the automatic cut. Australia’s Cameron McEntire took sixth with 78.91m, sandwiched just ahead of Nadeem in the qualifying order.
It capped a mixed day for the Pakistan camp. Yasir Sultan, competing in the same event, could not find the consistency to join his more decorated teammate in the final. He fouled his opening attempt, recovered with 71.42m in round two, and closed with a season’s best of 74.36m — good enough only for 14th and outside the qualifying places.
For Nadeem, Thursday’s display was solid rather than spectacular, and he will know better is needed to defend the title he first won in Birmingham four years ago. That 2022 final remains one of the defining moments in Pakistani athletics: his Games record throw of 90.18 metres delivered the country’s first Commonwealth gold in the sport since 1962 and made him the first South Asian athlete to break the 90-metre barrier. He went on to surpass even that mark in Paris two years later, throwing an Olympic record 92.97m to become Pakistan’s first Olympic athletics champion.
Confirming his progress to Friday’s final, the Pakistan Olympics Association said Nadeem would “be back in action in the final tomorrow as he aims to bring more glory to Pakistan,” describing his qualifying effort as another step toward defending the crown he has held since 2022.
Nadeem travels into the tournament as the standout name in a 36-strong Pakistani contingent competing across athletics, boxing, swimming, gymnastics, judo and lawn bowls in Glasgow. Pakistan has taken part in every Commonwealth Games since 1954, amassing 82 medals in total, including 27 golds — and few among that squad carry the weight of expectation that follows Nadeem into Friday’s final.
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