ISLAMABAD: Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has become the first Pakistani to directly qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, state-run Pakistan Television’s (PTV) sports channel reported this week.
In March, Japan announced the Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021, the first such delay in the Games’ 124-year modern history, as the coronavirus crisis wrecked the world’s last sporting showpiece still standing this year.
The Olympics qualification standard for the javelin throw is 85 meters.
“Arshad Nadeem represented #Pakistan in the 2019 South Asian Games & clinched gold with a throw of 86.29 meters, which also translated into an automatic feature in the Tokyo Olympics as he surpassed the mandatory 85 meters qualification criteria,” PTV Sports said in a tweet on Tuesday.
The pride of Pakistan, 23 year old Arshad Nadeem has become the first Pakistani to directly qualify for the #Tokyo2020 Olympics. pic.twitter.com/mPaUD4hcpm
— PTV Sports (@PTVSp0rts) July 21, 2020
Nadeem, who hails from Mian Channu in Pakistan’s Punjab province, is a four-time national champion, and holds the distinction of being the sole representative from Pakistan at the World Athletics Championship in Doha, PTV Sports said.
In May 2017, he won a bronze medal for a throw of 76.33 meters at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku. In April 2018, he set a new personal best of 80.45 meters in the qualification round of the javelin throw event at the Commonwealth Games held in Australia. In August 2018, he won a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he set a new personal best and national record of 80.75 meters.