TOKYO: Pakistani Olympian Arshad Nadeem, who placed fifth in the javelin throw finals in Tokyo Olympics, missed out on a medal due to excessive use of mobile phone, Pakistan contingent’s chef-de-mission Brig. Zaheer Akhtar said Sunday.
Speaking with The News from Tokyo, the head of the Pakistani contingent alleged the Mian Channu based athlete of using social media in between the qualifying and final rounds which according to him turned out to be the key reason behind Arshad’s failure to get in top 3.
Akhtar, who is also the Vice President of the Pakistan Olympic Association, further added that both Arshad and his coach Fayyaz Bukhari were on social media during the short breaks despite flouting instructions from officials. The duo mainly focused on sending premature clips back home halfway into the competition that surely was an act of total indiscipline, he said.
However, the senior official also commended Arshad’s skill saying that his performance posed a threat in the Indian camp.
“When Arshad managed to threw the javelin to over 85 meters in the qualifying round, Indian coach said that Arshad was the biggest threat to his athlete [Neeraj Chopra], having all the potential to win even Gold”, he mentioned adding that “Such was the impact of his qualifying round performance where he hardly put his full effort and yet he reached over 85 meters.”
Expressing displeasure over Arshad’s failure to get top positions, Akhtar said he believes the competition should have been between Pakistani and Indian athletes. “Sadly that could not happen more due to Arshad and his coach’s excessive screen time”. He said that the Pakistani coach was spotted talking over the phone when finals were in progress.
Talking to the Pakistani media from Tokyo, Brig Zaheer said Arshad Nadeem was capable of touching the 90-meter mark. Had he and his coach stayed focused on achieving the ultimate goal prior to the finals, they would have won the medal, he said.
One of the reasons why Arshad did not know that time was running out for his final throw. His half-hearted last attempt was made in haste, Akhtar said.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem created history as the Javelin Thrower hurled a massive 85.16m throw and makes it to the Men's Javelin Throw finals of the Tokyo Olympics.
Congratulations, Arshad Nadeem you have made us all proud👏#ArshadNadeem pic.twitter.com/jo2SOQC50n
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) August 4, 2021
Earlier, the hope for winning the Olympics medal in the South Asian country ended when Arshad Nadeem, who became the first athlete from the country to book his place in the Javelin Throw final earned the fifth spot in the list of finalists after making foul during the final attempt.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan has claimed a total of ten medals with eight of them won by the national men’s hockey team in Olympics. Pakistan hockey team last won the bronze medal in 1992 Barcelona. Before that, Boxer Hussain Shah had brought an individual medal home in 1988.
