Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem struggling with lack of equipment

Pakistan's first-ever athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships, Arshad Nadeem, is struggling with a lack of proper equipment ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Arshad hasn't had an international standard spear for many years.

Nadeem who has recently undergone surgery for an elbow problem said he owned just one javelin and has been using it for the last seven-eight years.

"It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics," he said.

"When I started in 2015, competing in international events I got this javelin," he recalled.

Nadeem is deemed as the lone medal hope for Pakistan at the 2024 Paris Olympics given his superb show at the World Championships where he finished second behind Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.

Nadeem had skipped last year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, citing a knee problem.

"For an international athlete aiming to win a medal in the Olympic Games, you need proper equipment and training facilities," he said.

Nadeem said he was hopeful that after entering into a sponsorship contract with car maker Toyota recently, he would be backed by them.

"I will be going to South Africa two months before the Olympics, and training there before August, but I want to take part in some international competitions before the Olympics," he said.

With a 90.18m throw, the 27-year-old Pakistani created a new javelin throw record at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham to claim the title. It ended Pakistan's 60-year wait for a CWG gold medal.

Apart from cricketers, Nadeem is the only recognized sportsman in Pakistan, and his efforts to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal, silver in the World Championships, and three other medals in Asian competitions are greatly appreciated by people in the country.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Pakistan Amateur Athletics Federation, Akram Sahi, resigned after a series of controversies hit the federation.

Sahi who served in the PAAF for over two decades said he had resigned for personal reasons.