Promising javelin thrower laments govt’s indifference

KARACHI: Pakistan’s promising athlete Arshad Nadeem assists his father, a mason, to help his family make both ends meet. Although he gets Rs18,000 per month from his department WAPDA, it is too little to meet the requirements of his family.

When he returns from work he practises javelin throw.

The javelin was gifted to him by Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) athletics coach Fayyaz Ahmed Bukhari when Arshad won gold in the WAPDA Inter-Unit event.

He does his weight training by using two cement blocks, weighing 25kg and 60kg which his father has made for him.

He needs good diet but has to eat whatever is available because he cannot afford expensive food. Despite all these hurdles he is rising high and high because he loves the sport from the core of his heart. A find of the Punjab Youth Sports Festival, Arshad won bronze on his international debut when he threw javelin up to 78.33 metres in the South Asian Games in India early this year.

The outcome enabled Arshad to grab the fourth place in the world in the IAAF World Under-20 Rankings. Early this month he featured in the Asian Junior Championship in Vietnam, his second international appearance, and again won bronze with a 73.40m throw despite fitness issues.

The athlete says these problems cannot stop him. “Such problems have to be faced in life. I too have problems but I have passion for the sport and will achieve global reputation,” Arshad told ‘The News’ in an interview from a small village 101/15 in Mian Channu, Khanewal district.

Although Arshad is in the initial stage of his career he says he can become the first Pakistani athlete to win medal in Olympics if he is provided with the required training.

“If I get six months or one-year training abroad I will be in a position to win medal even in Olympics. I believe in myself and can achieve the target of up to 90 metre,” Arshad said.

The Olympic record is 90.57 metre, set by Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But rising to that status will definitely need hard work and patronage from the government and Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP).

The AFP plans to grab a training opportunity for Arshad as its president Maj Gen (retd) Akram Sahi has sought the help of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) to send him to some foreign academy.

Arshad is not going to feature in Rio Olympics but if his upward flight in the sport continues he may get a chance to represent Pakistan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The athlete is not happy with the response from the government to his two medals in his first two events. “I won a medal in the South Asian Games, but nobody encouraged me. I won another in Vietnam in the Asian Junior Championship. Again there was no appreciation. I was not fully fit on both these occasions but still I won medals,” Arshad said.

The government is yet to give cash prizes to the South Asian Games’ medalists although it has honoured the gold medallist hockey team with hefty cash prizes.

“When I won bronze in India, LESCO coach Fayyaz Ahmed Bukhari gifted me a pair of spikes. In Mian Channu I was welcomed by my own people when I returned from India. When I returned from Vietnam nobody welcomed me and I went home from the Lahore Airport by bus,” he said.

Arshad is fighting against an elbow injury and has had no proper treatment. He is to take part in World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Poland from July 19-24 and says he will overcome his injury by then. “I still feel 30 to 40 percent pain in my elbow but I hope I will recover,” the athlete said.

When asked if he feels any pressure when he takes the field in international events, he said: “God has given me a big heart. The word ‘fear’ is not in my dictionary,” Arshad added.

The credit of bringing a talent like Arshad goes to a Sports Board Punjab (SBP) coach Rasheed Ahmed who picked him for the Punjab Youth Festival where he won gold in javelin throw competitions every time.

Arshad was then introduced to WAPDA’s sports officials by his friend and long-racer Mohammad Amir, who represents WAPDA.  Arshad, who is six feet, three inches tall and weighs 92 kilogramme, was going to start Aitikaf on Sunday night.