Arshad can hit 90 metre mark, says Talib

KARACHI: Former international athlete Mohammad Talib on Wednesday said that javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has the chance to hit 90 metre mark in the Tokyo Olympics if he achieves 88 metre before flying for Tokyo.

“Yes, he is an intelligent athlete and has worked very hard. He can achieve the 90m mark but it depends on how his coach trains him. I think if he achieves 88 metre here before moving to Tokyo then he will have every chance to break the 90m mark in the Olympics,” Talib told ‘The News’ in an interview.

“I had written to the AFP secretary Mohammad Zafar that they should hold a small competition for Arshad, involving a few other javelin throwers, so that he could exhibit his skills and record his personal best before leaving for Tokyo,” Talib said.

He urged Arshad to be careful about his diet and have a sound sleep of seven to eight hours. “He should focus on the flexibility of his body and speed work and smooth run-up and coordination,” he said.

“This is after a long time that we have got a world standard athlete. In the 1960s and 1970s we had Jalal and Nawaz who used to perform at the Asian and Commonwealth levels. But those athletes used to get standard training in Europe for four to six months,” Talib said.

“But the issue now is that there is no such high level training and there is no proper system for the development of an athlete,” he said.

He said the ten-day time in Tokyo would be enough for Arshad to adjust to the conditions there.

Arshad will fly out of Lahore for Tokyo on July 22 and will compete in the qualifying round on August 4. The finals will be held on August 7.

Talib said Arshad can achieve his target if the environment suits him. “If he gets an ideal condition and if he gets wind in front then he will manage a good throw as the javelin travels well against the wind,” he pointed out.

Talib said that the coach should also work on his mental strength. “Olympics is a major stage and Arshad may get nervous, so the coach must motivate him and keep him normal,” he said.

About Arshad’s month-long break before resuming training when he returned from Turkey, Talib said it would have affected his preparation.

Arshad created history when he recorded an 86.29m throw in the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal in 2019 to make it to the Olympics. He then bettered his record by managing an 86.38m throw in an international meet in Mashhad, Iran, in April this year.