Former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi congratulated Javelin Thrower Mohammad Yasir who won bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championship on Sunday in Bangkok, Thailand.
On his Twitter account, Afridi congratulated the athlete saying that Pakistan have all the talent in the world we just need to invest in it properly.
“Congratulations, Muhammad Yasir, for winning a well-deserved medal! Our immensely talented youth can shine in all aspects of life, whether sports or education. Education, a lifelong currency, empowers them to pursue their passions,” Afridi wrote in a tweet.
“Coupled with sports, it unlocks unlimited opportunities and benefits. Let's invest in both to nurture intellectually strong, healthy individuals who uplift their communities and Pakistan. Together, we can achieve greatness!”
Yasir won the medal with his career-best throw of 79.93 meters.
Japan’s Roderick Genki Dean, 83.15m, and India’s Manu Devarakeshavi Prakash, 81.01m, won the gold and silver medal, respectively.
This was Pakistan’s first and only medal in the ongoing event.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Shajar Abbas failed to qualify for the final of the 200m on Saturday.
He finished third in his heat during the semi-final while clocking 21.04 seconds. However, the timing of the last athlete who qualified for the final was 20.99.
The top two from each of the three heats and the next two fastest qualified for the final.
On the same day, during the first round, Abbas completed the 200m race in 21.06 seconds — finishing seventh among 36 runners — and secured the second position in the fifth heat to qualify for the semi-final.
On the other hand, another Pakistani sprinter Abdul Moeed Baloch failed in the heat of 200 as he finished fifth in 21.86 seconds.
Meanwhile on Friday, Abbas failed to qualify for the final of the 100m event after finishing fourth while clocking 10.45 during his heat. He could have qualified for the final if he had repeated his personal best of 10.37 seconds, since the last athlete who qualified for the next round had a time of 10.38 seconds.
However, sprinter Esha Imran was stopped from competing in the Asian Meet in Thailand after authorities came to know that the athlete has tested positive for the use of Anabolic Androgenic steroid, during Pakistan’s National Games, a banned substance that is commonly used by athletes through injections.
The Anabolic Androgenic steroid is the same performance enhancing steroid that Ben Johnson used to break Carl Lewis world record clocking 9.81s for hundred meters.