Butt says Arshad in good shape for Olympics

LAHORE: Salman Butt, coach of premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, on Monday said that Arshad is in good shape, adding that it was extremely difficult to cope with the hot conditions in Lahore ahead of the Paris Olympics which will be formally opened on July 26.

“He is in good shape and we will try to make him much better. We have worked hard but weather has affected our training. We don’t have indoor air-conditioned facilities. It’s very difficult condition to train,” Butt told The News in a detailed chat.

Butt and Arshad are set to leave for Paris at 2am late Tuesday night. Arshad will compete in the qualifying phase to be conducted on August 6 while finals will be held on August 8. This is the second time that the world silver medallist Arshad will be competing in Olympics. He finished fifth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Despite tough conditions we have worked hard and have done four to five techniques,” Butt said. “Because of the hot conditions body becomes stiff and legs as well where he had an injury and we are to carry him carefully while taking care of all these things,” he said.

“Now we are moving to better weather conditions in Paris and there we will utilise around 12 days as per our plans,” Butt said. “As you go near the competition you reduce the load and it makes the movement faster and reduces repetition. What we need is speed,” he said. Arshad is the sole medal hope for the country in Paris Olympics. His personal best throw is 90.18m which is counted as the world’s top throw. He managed this in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games which was also the Games record throw.

Dogged by injuries for a long time, Arshad has eventually achieved fitness and a few days ago he made a good effort in the Diamond League in Paris where he finished fourth with a throw of 84.21m.

He was featuring in any competitive event after a year since he snared silver, the first ever in history in athletics for the country, in the World Championship in Hungary last year. Arshad is one of the four Pakistani players who have directly qualified for the Paris Olympics, the other three being shooters who have already reached France to kick-start their competition in the Olympics on July 27 at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre. Pakistan last snared a medal in the Olympics way back in 1992 Barcelona Olympics when national men’s hockey team finished at the podium.

In individual sports, Pakistan claimed the last medal in 1988 Seoul Olympics through Hussain Shah who claimed bronze, which is the only medal the country has got in its Olympics history in boxing. Besides Arshad, female sprinter Faiqa Riaz will also compete in Olympics on wild card. She will run in 100m. She also has trained hard at the Punjab Stadium and is expected to pull off her best.

As many as three shooters, two athletes and two swimmers are set to represent Pakistan in the Olympics. England-based Dr Bajwa will also accompany Arshad in the Olympics. He recently visited Lahore and was also with him in the Diamond League.