Javelin thrower Yasir gets raw deal ahead of Paris Games

LAHORE: Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower Mohammad Yasir Sultan is unlikely to get a fair chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics as the Asian bronze medalist has been ignored so far on different fronts.

He has to press for the Olympics seat in the timeline until June 30, 2024, but so far he has not been given any clear picture by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) regarding the events to which he will be sent so that he could push for an Olympics berth.

According to sources, a senior AFP official has told Yasir that he would be sent to an event by the end of June but it is not a right move. Yasir needs at least three international events within the next three months. It will provide him with a big cushion to prepare accordingly. Sending him to an event just before the expiry of the qualification time-frame will only put an extra pressure on him and it may prevent him from doing his best. The AFP also is seen highly reluctant to talk much about Yasir, who has a good chance to qualify for the Olympics.

This correspondent asked an AFP senior official via Whatsapp that to which events they will send Yasir but the official ignored the message.

It is a big question mark that how the existing set up will handle the AFP affairs after the resignation of the former AFP chairman Major General (retd) Mohammad Akram Sahi.

Sahi recently resigned as AFP chairman for unknown reasons but according to sources he was seen at an Iftar dinner here on Friday which was also attended by Pakistan’s leading athletes and athletics officials.

Without knowing exactly about the qualifying events in which he will feature Yasir is undergoing tough training here for the last few months under his coach Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari who is also delivering his services free of cost as neither AFP nor PSB is backing him.

Although Yasir is staying at the PSB Coaching Centre Lahore he is not being given food facilities. This correspondent understands that he takes food while spending from his own pocket which is against the spirit.

This correspondent is aware that a group of athletes from other discipline and the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem are being provided with food facilities but Yasir has been completely neglected despite the fact that he is also working for qualifying for the Olympics.

When this correspondent asked a PSB official that why Yasir is not being given food he did not reply.

Yasir pulled off his personal best throw of 79.93 metre to win bronze in the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok in July 2023.

He also finished fourth in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year with a throw of 78.13 metre. Yasir will need to meet the Olympics standard of 85.50 metre if he is to qualify for the world’s most prestigious event.

The AFP also made big blunders in the past by not sending with Yasir his coach Bukhari and that also affected his performance on a couple of occasions. So far five Pakistani players have qualified for the Paris Olympics. They include shooters Ghulam Mustafa Bashir, Gulfam Joseph, Kishmala Talat, Arshad Nadeem and France-based eventer Usman Khan who will need to maintain his position until the end of the qualification timeline.