THIS time around, the man recovering from surgery but still carrying the weight of a nation’s expectations, buckled. At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Arshad Nadeem could not deliver glory; in fact, the 28-year-old Olympic javelin champion fell quite short. For the high standards Arshad set for himself — much of it thanks to his own unrelenting efforts — it was woefully short. He could only manage a best throw of 82.75m for 10th place in Thursday’s final at the Japan National Stadium — his worst finish at a global event since he ended 16th overall in the qualifying rounds of the world championships in 2019. Since that edition, Arshad has always been among the top five. He was fifth at the Olympics in Tokyo four years ago as well as the 2022 world championships in the US. He then claimed gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, before winning second place at the world championships in Budapest a year later. His biggest moment of glory came last year when Arshad smashed the Olympic record to win a historic gold in Paris. Expectations, therefore, were high as he headed to the world championships, even though he had recently been operated on to fix a calf injury. Injuries have plagued the build-up to almost every international competition in Arshad’s career. This time, they caught up with him.

A blame game ensued, with accusations that Arshad’s coach Salman Butt made him insular. But the question is: is it fair to ask Arshad to deliver every time he steps on the global stage, given the dearth of facilities and opportunities for him? Since winning Olympic gold, he has participated in only the Asian Championships, which he won. While others competed throughout the season in the Diamond League, Arshad has been training in decrepit facilities. There are three years till the next Olympics and if Pakistan wants a fit Arshad there, much will have to change.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2025