Tag: Pakistani Athlete

  • World Athletics Championships: Arshad Nadeem Qualifies for Final

    World Athletics Championships: Arshad Nadeem Qualifies for Final

    Pakistani Arshad Nadeem qualifies for finals of the men’s javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships 2023, being held in Budapest. He has also qualified for the Paris Olympics with a throw of 86.79m in the final attempt. 

    Nadeem’s first attempt was 70.63m while the second was 81.53m.

    Nadeem recorded his career’s best throw of 90.18 metre in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham which is also a record throw of the quadrennial event.

    India’s Neeraj Chopra has also qualified for the finals. of the men’s javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships 2023, which is being held in Budapest. The Olympics gold medallist recorded a throw of 88.77m in his first attempt itself, which was enough to secure his place in the final. 

    It also happens to be among Neeraj’s best throw of the year, surpassing his previously recorded 88.67m and 87.66m attempts in the Doha Diamond League and Lausanne Diamond League respectively. 

    A total of 37 javelin throwers have been divided into two groups, with a total of 12 athletes to qualify for the final. Nadeem was in Group B along with world number one Jakub Vadlejch, who also automatically qualifies for finals in his second thrown of 83.50 meters. Meanwhile, Neeraj Chopra was in Group A. The Automatic qualifying mark for the final was 83 metres or at least the top 12. 

    The final of javelin throw will be held on Sunday, August 27.

  • ‘World ka gold medal b ayega’: Talha Talib wins Pakistan first ever medal in World Weightlifting Championship

    ‘World ka gold medal b ayega’: Talha Talib wins Pakistan first ever medal in World Weightlifting Championship

    Pakistan’s young weightlifter Talha Talib has won the country’s first ever medal at the World Weightlifting Championship on Friday by winning a Bronze at the snatch event in the 67kg category.

    In a message on Twitter after his victory, Talib said he hoped to win a gold medal for the country soon too. While he also thanked everyone who supported him.

    The 22-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala managed to create history for Pakistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    He lifted 143kg in his first attempt in the snatch event in the 67kg competition. His following attempts of lifting 146kg and 147kg were unsuccessful, but the lift of 143kg in the first attempt was enough for him to secure a medal for Pakistan.

    Last year, Talha won the Bronze medal in same category at the Asian Championship. The performance earned him a place at Tokyo Olympics, where he finished fifth.

    The performance at the Olympics brought him into the limelight and the country’s sports authorities assured him full support for future events.

    Several notables, including Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Government of Punjab Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti, congratulated the athlete on accomplishing the feat.

  • Haider Ali bags first-ever Paralympics gold for Pakistan

    Haider Ali bags first-ever Paralympics gold for Pakistan

    Paralympian Haider Ali made the country proud by winning the first-ever gold medal for Pakistan in Paralympics discus throw competition, with a top podium finish in the discus throw event at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics on Friday.

    Haider threw a 55.26 metres throw in his fifth attempt out of the total six he made to score the best distance.

    The silver medal was bagged by Ukraine’s Zhabnyak with a 52.43 metres throw, while Brazilian Teixeira de Souza won bronze with a 51.86 throw.

    Earlier, Haider had won two medals, a silver in Beijing and a Bronze in Rio in the long jump event for Pakistan.

    While talking to a local news publication, Ali said that having the uncertainty in training was tough, but then the second set of problems arose with having no support from the government of Pakistan in helping the para-athletes’ travel to Tokyo.

    Earlier the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Media Director Huma Beg had shared that the tickets for the athletes were also bought just a few days before their scheduled arrival in Tokyo. The committee did not have any backing from the government in sending the athletes to the Games, but then the Government of Punjab helped in the end in facilitating the tickets, and most of the preparation was done on self-help basis.

    Ali is acutely aware of the fact that Pakistan Government has not played the part that it should have.

    Along with Government of Pakistan and Paralympic Pakistan, many congratulated the athlete for his accomplishment.

    Soon after his win, Congratulations Pakistan started trending on Twitter and thousands of fans started congratulating him on Pakistani Twitter. Paralympics Pakistan shared a video of Pakistani Hero Ali thanking the people for their wishes.

  • Olympian Neeraj Chopra disappointed with ‘vested interest’ of Indian Media

    Olympian Neeraj Chopra disappointed with ‘vested interest’ of Indian Media

    Indian Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has come out in defence of his fellow javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem saying that there was nothing wrong in what Nadeem did on the field.

    He slammed netizens and Indian media for spreading propaganda.

    Chopra tweeted a video with the caption:”I would request everyone to please not use me and my comments as a medium to further your vested interests and propaganda. Sports teaches us to be together and united. I’m extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public on my recent comments.”

    In the video, Neeraj says, “I want to say that one issue has come up about something I said in an interview; that I took the javelin from Arshad Nadeem, the Pakistani javelin thrower. So, a huge controversy is being created around this statement.

    “It’s a very simple thing. We (javelin throwers) keep our personal javelins at the field and everyone and anyone can use that javelin. It is a rule. So, there’s nothing wrong in it. He was just preparing for his throw with that javelin and then I asked for the javelin back.

    “So it is not such a big thing, and I am very sad that some people are using my name to create a big issue about it. I request you to not do it. Sports teaches all of us to walk together.”

    Neeraj also requested people not to use his name as a medium to further their vested interests and propagandas. “I would request everyone to please not use me and my comments as a medium to further your vested interests and propaganda. Sports teaches us to be together and united. I’m extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public on my recent comments.”

    “All of us javelin throwers share a lot of love. We all have good conversations. So please refrain from saying things that will hurt us,” Neeraj concluded.

    The 23-year-old athlete is the first Gold medal winner after the 2008 Beijing Olympics for India. Abhinav Bindra was the last person to win a Gold medal for India, while Arshad stood fifth in the contest.

  • Samar Khan accused of faking cycling to K2 base camp, clarifies her stance

    Samar Khan accused of faking cycling to K2 base camp, clarifies her stance

    Samar Khan has clarified her stance after a handful of people tried to dismiss her achievement.

    The Current reached out to Samar after her audio clip was leaked on social media by a journalist Jamil Nagri in which she was allegedly being angry at the journalist and locals of Gilgit-Baltistan for dismissing her feat.

    When we asked her about the area she covered on her bicycle and on foot, she said: “Around 15-20 per cent of the trek is paddled by me, in remaining parts I mostly dragged and lifted my bike, as there was hardly a trek for proper walk.”

    When we questioned her about the leaked audio, she clarified: “It’s a leaked WhatsApp audio, where my response has been uploaded on Twitter by a local Balti Journalist Jamil Nagri, whose abuse on social media I was answering at that time. He, with his few friends, started mocking and abusing me on different platforms and the audio is more than this, but a specific chunk has been leaked to use it against me and to get sympathies by using GB (Gilgit-Baltistan) card and arousing emotions of the locals.”

    “Being an athlete, I just rode my bicycle, which made these weak men insecure enough to play these games against me,” she added.

    “I already released my statement on Twitter with an apology but still receiving life threats and abuse.”

    Taking to Twitter, she wrote: “I take complete responsibility of my words but keep in mind it was a personal voice note intended for a single individual, so all of my F’s goes to him only, because nobody can bring here a single public post of mine which spreads hate between #GB.”

    “I offer my apologies to Balti friends whose sentiments got hurt by my words. I am grateful for all the love I always received from GB. I wish the complete abuse would have been shared here instead of uploading a chunk from my response to manipulate people for personal sympathies,” she said in another tweet.

    https://twitter.com/SKhanAthlete/status/1428982990114213888?s=20

    Khan has become the only female cyclist to reach the base camp of the world’s second tallest peak K2. She holds the title of the first Pakistani to summit Mount Kilimanjaro and the Biafo Glaciers in the Karakoram Range on a bike, has set a unique record by reaching the base camp of the savage mountain via cycle.

    Earlier, Samar gave it back with the same dismissiveness.

  • Fans gush over Pakistani Olympian Talha Talib’s hot picture

    Fans gush over Pakistani Olympian Talha Talib’s hot picture

    Pakistani weightlifter, who represented Pakistan in the Tokyo Olympics and held the gold medal spot until the final round, shared a picture of himself on Instagram and his fans are going crazy.

    “Don’t stop believing in yourself. No matter what happens,” wrote Talha, while sharing the picture.

    The 21-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala took part in the 67kg category in the Tokyo Olympics, broke his own national record in the final round. He was eventually bumped down and finished fifth in the competition, lifting 170 kilograms. However, he was widely hailed in the country for his effort.

    Here are a few reactions from the fans on his post:

  • ‘Arshad Nadeem played cricket very well’: Meera refers to him as a ‘Cricketer’

    ‘Arshad Nadeem played cricket very well’: Meera refers to him as a ‘Cricketer’

    Actor Meera’s recent press interaction has gone viral on the web as she appreciated Arshad Nadeem for his ‘cricket performance’ instead of ‘Javelin Throw’.

    Read More – Arshad Nadeem’s failure in the Olympics because of extensive use of social media: Chief, Pak team

    “Arshad played good cricket and he uplifted Pakistan’s name. A lot of hard work was visible in his performance. There was honesty, discipline in his body language. I think the government should acknowledge our heroes and reward them,” she said.

    The clip from this interview has gone viral on social media and has received polarizing response from the netizens.

    It is pertinent to mention here that Arshad finished fifth in the Javelin Throw event of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He threw fifth-best throw covering a distance of 84.62m.

  • Neeraj Chopra wanted Arshad Nadeem to win medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics

    Neeraj Chopra wanted Arshad Nadeem to win medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics

    India’s javelin Gold winner Neeraj Chopra said that he wanted to share the Tokyo 2020 Olympics podium with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem.

    Speaking to News 18, the 23-year-old, who became India’s first historic athletic Gold winner with a 87.58m throw, said that he would have loved it if the Pakistani athlete won a medal as it would have put Asia on the map.

    Arshad, who was Pakistan’s last medal hope, finished 5th with his best throw of 84.62m, 0.82m behind bronze medalist Vitezslav Vesely.

    “[It would have been] good to have Nadeem on the podium too. Asia ka naam ho jata [Asia would have made a name],” Neeraj said.

    When asked about Indo-Pak rivalry, the athlete did not think it was fair to drag the hype over to the Olympics and felt that it was best left in cricket.

    “It’s okay to do the comparisons in cricket where 7-8 countries are taking part but not fair in Olympics,” he said.

    Arshad congratulated the Indian athlete on winning the Gold medal and called him his favourite.

    https://twitter.com/ArshadNadeemPak/status/1424596874984570887?s=20
    https://twitter.com/ArshadNadeemPak/status/1424312756833067021?s=20
  • Arshad Nadeem’s failure in the Olympics because of extensive use of social media: Chief, Pak team

    Arshad Nadeem’s failure in the Olympics because of extensive use of social media: Chief, Pak team

    Pakistan contingent’s chef-de-mission to the Tokyo Olympics Brig Zaheer Akhtar expressed his displeasure over missing a golden opportunity of winning a medal that could have been a Gold even, as highly talented 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, reports Abdul Mohi Shah for The News.

    “Nonstop social media usage by Arshad and his coach in between the qualifying and final rounds turned out to be the main reason behind this failure,” said Brig Zaheer.

    Talking to The News from Tokyo, Brig Zaheer said Arshad looked set to topple even the best as he gave an early indication of his talent during the qualifying round.

    “When he sent javelin to over 85 meters in the qualifying round, Indian coach who trained the Gold medalist Chopra was on record to have said that Arshad was the biggest threat to his athlete, having all the potential to win even Gold. Such was the impact of his qualifying round performance where he hardly put his full effort and yet he reached over 85. The Indian camp was wary of Arshad and his potential.”

    Brig Zaheer said despite clear instructions, both Arshad and his coach Fayyaz Bokhari were seen using social media uninterruptedly. Later, it was learnt that they even sent premature videos back home halfway into the competition, which “surely was an act of total indiscipline”.

    The contingent’s chef-de-mission said he had absolutely no doubt in Arshad’s inborn talent.

    “His coach was even talking on the telephone when finals were going on but I don’t know to whom he was talking to. That is the reason why Arshad did not know that time was running out for his final throw. His half-hearted last attempt was made in haste. With J Vetter already out, it should have been a direct contest between Arshad and Chopra for a Gold medal. Sadly that could not happen more due to Arshad and his coach’s excessive use of social media in between the qualifying round and finals.”

  • Olympic finalist Arshad Nadeem had no ground to practice, says father

    Olympic finalist Arshad Nadeem had no ground to practice, says father

    Pakistani Olympian Arshad Nadeem’s father has claimed that he had no ground to practice and worked on his own without any support from the government.

    Read More – ‘Will give reward to Arshad Nadeem if he wins Gold in Olympics’: Hassan Ali

    According to Geo News, Muhammad Ashraf, father of javelin thrower Arshad, revealed that his son did not even have a ground to practice.

    Muhammad Ashraf further shared that Arshad was initially interested in cricket but he suggested his son try javelin throw instead.

    Nadeem’s father, who works as a mason to bear the expenses of Arshad’s training, said that Arshad trained in his own house’s courtyard and streets. Money for fitness machines was also provided by his father.

    He added that the government provided no support to Arshad and the expenses of sending him to Multan, Faisalabad, and Lahore for practice were completely borne by him.

    Arshad’s younger brother is also a javelin thrower and he is in Lahore for training.

    Muhammad Ashraf demanded that the government support young athletes and build grounds where athletes can practice.

    Arshad topped his group during the group stage competition and ranked third in both the groups. He will be participating in the final contest on August 7.

    Taking to Twitter, Arshad appealed to the people of Pakistan to pray for him for the final competition.

    https://twitter.com/ArshadNaadeem/status/1423108260811485184?s=20