The Stade de France arena will be buzzing under lights when the line-up of 12 of the world’s best throwers gets on the runway to win gold, and if not that, finish on the podium.
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Leading the field is reigining Olympic and world champion Neeraj, whose mammoth season-best throw of 89.34 in his first attempt was the farthest recorded in the qualification round. Pakistan’s Nadeem, who won a silver behind Neeraj at the Budapest World Championships, looked equally menacing as he threw the spear 86.59 metres far, also his season best, to stand fourth best among the 12 throwers who qualified for the final.
In anticipation of Nadeem winning Pakistan’s first medal of the Games in Paris, the country’s cricketers queued up to send the star athlete their best wishes.
“First of all, Arshad Nadeem, congratulations on qualifying for the final,” said Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood. “Our best wishes and prayers are with you. We are eagerly waiting and hope that you will win a medal for Pakistan.”
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“Whatever you have done and achieved for Pakistan can’t be described in words. You are a role model and we hope that on August 8 you will be on the podium. All the best, brother,” he added.
Also seen in the video saying best of luck to Nadeem are Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi and former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul.
Talking about the javelin final, Neeraj and Nadeem are expected to face a stiff challenge from Germany’s Julian Weber, Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic and Anderson Peters of Grenada.
The final is scheduled for 11:55 pm IST today.
