Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem recorded his season-best throw but still finished fifth at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Sunday.

Arshad threw 81.49m on his third attempt, but his effort was well behind Sri Lankan sensation Rumesh Pathirage, who clinched gold with a monstrous 91.09m throw in the fourth round.

Grenada’s Anderson Peters finished second with 86.18m, ahead of Germany’s Julian Weber, who took bronze with 85.89m.

Arshad again did not seem in his groove when he started with a throw of 74.42m. The Mian Chunnu-born athlete improved on his second attempt with 79.66m before making his best throw in his third and final attempt.

Under the competition format, only the top four athletes advance to the decisive fourth round, meaning Arshad’s campaign ended after three throws.

Weber set the pace early with 84.09m on his first attempt. Peters improved on that with 86.18m on his second, while Pathirage, who won Commonwealth gold last month, also threw 85.69m. Weber then improved his own effort to 85.89m.

Pathirage all but secured gold with an attempt of 87.11m before obliterating the field with a 91.09m throw.

The result caps a difficult season for Arshad, who has struggled to reproduce the form that saw him win Olympic gold in Paris with a record-breaking 92.97m throw.

His 2026 campaign began with a ninth-place finish in Switzerland, followed by a disappointing Commonwealth Games outing in Glasgow where he failed to reach the final round with a best of just 77.41m.

With the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya approaching, the men’s javelin final is scheduled for September 28, where Pathirage will be the heavy favourite.