LAHORE: Olympic cha­m­pion Arshad Nadeem made an underwhelming return to competition, finishing ninth in the javelin throw at the Spitzen Leicht­athletik Luzern meeting in Switzerland on Thursday.

Competing in the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event, Arshad’s best effort was 78.47 metres, recorded with his final throw. His series read: X, 74.87m, 73.26m, X, 73.39m and 78.47m.

The outing was Arshad’s first competitive appearance since November and his first event of the 2026 season. The 29-year-old’s performance comes just weeks before he begins the defence of his Common­wealth Games title in Glasgow.

Arshad won the javelin gold medal at the Birmi­ngham 2022 Common­wea­lth Games with a Games record throw of 90.18m. He will face a strong field in Glasgow, with India’s Nee­raj Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga also expected to compete.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2026