By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan’s Olympic javelin champion, was left without a medal at the Asian Games on Monday after fouling his last three throws in a rain-soaked final, in which Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage won gold with an 88.55m effort on his sixth and final attempt.
Arshad, 29, produced only two valid throws from six on a slick runway at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. His best, 80.29m, was his season’s best mark but left him fourth, 4.06m short of the bronze medal.
He opened with 76.69m and fouled his second attempt. His third, at 80.29m, moved him up to fourth place, but he fouled his fourth, fifth and sixth throws in heavy rain and could not improve on it.
Pathirage, the 23-year-old world number one and the overwhelming favourite, was third after three rounds, behind both Indian throwers. He moved to the top of the standings in round four with 88.33m, beating his chest in delight, and improved to 88.55m with his last throw. That was short of the Asian Games record of 89.15m, set by China’s Zhao Qinggang in Incheon in 2014.
India took the other two podium places. Yashvir Singh won silver with a personal best of 85.72m, thrown on his final attempt. He had opened with 83.56m, and all six of his throws were beyond 82m. His compatriot Rohit Yadav took bronze with 84.35m, which put him briefly in front in the third round. Neeraj Chopra, India’s Olympic and world champion, did not compete in Nagoya because of injury.
Pakistan’s second entrant, Muhammad Yasir, finished ninth of the 14 finalists with a best of 73.50m. His series was a foul, 73.50m and 73.47m, and he missed the cut for the last eight. Yasir set a personal best of 79.93m at the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok but has struggled to reproduce that form at major events since. Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama retired injured during his fourth attempt.
Pathirage’s win is all the more striking given the disruption to his preparations. Two weeks before the Games, all five of his javelins, the implements he had used for every 90m throw this year, were found shattered after a flight from Budapest, where he had won the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
The Sri Lankan has won 11 of his 12 competitions this year and thrown beyond 90m three times. His titles include the Diamond League Final, Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow and the World Ultimate crown. His personal best of 92.62m, a world-leading mark thrown in Rome in June, is 35cm short of Arshad’s Olympic record.
Monday’s result continues a lean run for Arshad since his gold in Paris in 2024. There he fouled his first throw before producing the longest throw in Olympic history, 92.97m, on his second. It ended a 40-year wait for a Pakistani Olympic gold medal.
He has not approached that form this year. He finished ninth in the Commonwealth Games final in Glasgow with a best of 77.41m, missing the top eight. His three throws there were a foul, 77.41m and 75.20m. Pathirage won that final with 89.75m, ahead of Chopra (85.83m) and Yashvir Singh (85.41m). Arshad was fifth at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
Pakistan had four bronze medals and stood 33rd on the official medal table on Monday evening, according to the results system.
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