Superstar athlete Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan requested prayers from the country via video message from Paris prior to the javelin final of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
In a video message on Wednesday, he added, “Thank you for your prayers, and please continue praying for my success in the final.”
The 27-year-old easily advanced to Thursday night’s final at the Stade de France after throwing a strong 86.59 meters on his first and only try of the qualifying round, which was also his best throw of the season.
Greetings in Arabic, Your prayers have answered me with many honors from Allah,” he remarked.
“Your prayers have answered my prayers; I have qualified for the [javelin] finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics,” he declared.
As the final competitor to participate in Paris, Nadeem expressed his excitement, saying, “I’m ecstatic that with the help of your prayers, I qualified for the final in my first throw only.” This is now Pakistan’s only opportunity to earn a medal. “Please keep me in your prayers.”
On Thursday, August 8 at 11:25 p.m. PST, the final will take place.
“Please keep praying for me so that I can give it my all and bring home a medal for Pakistan.”
Olympic javelin qualifier
Similar to Nadeem, a few of his competitors qualified for the championship round on their own.
India’s Neeraj Chopra, the current Olympic and world champion, led the field with a tremendous throw of 89.34 meters, which was also a season-best.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters, in third place with 88.63 meters, and the current European Champion Julian Weber, in fourth place with 87.76 meters, were positioned between the two South Asian competitors.
Kenya’s silver medallist from Rio 2016 completed a season-best throw of 85.97 meters on his third try, good for fifth place in the final standings.
Luiz Maurício da Silva of Brazil was having a field day as he smashed the South American record and set a personal best with a throw of 85.91 meters to finish in sixth position.
Powerhouse Czech Jakub Vadlejch is ranked seventh in the field with a lone throw of 85.63 meters, quite a distance off his season best of 88.65 meters.
In his Olympic debut, Finland’s Toni Keranen set a personal and season best with a throw of 85.27 meters, placing him seventh.
Andrian Mardare of the Republic of Moldova threw an 84.13m to finish ninth going into the final, setting yet another season best.
