Pakistan’s star javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem won a silver medal at the World Athletics Championship on Sunday in Budapest, Hungary.
Nadeem made his best throw of 87.82m in his third attempt and secured the medal.
India's Neeraj Chopra clinched the gold medal with his best throw of 88.17m. Arshad came second, while Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic came third with an 86.67m throw.
Arshad did not have a great start as he could only reach 74.80m but the Pakistani came back in the race with an excellent 82.81m throw in his second attempt.
However, it was Arshad's third throw which was the biggest breakthrough as his attempt went as far as 87.82 meters — his season's best.
Arshad's fourth attempt could only reach 87.12m, much less than he was expecting.
While Arshad's fifth attempt could not reach the 80m mark, he managed to make a comeback once again and made an 81.86m throw in his sixth and last attempt.
Arshad created history as this was Pakistan's first-ever medal at the World Athletics Championship.
Earlier on Saturday (August 25), Arshad qualified for the final of World Athletics Championship with his best throw of 86.79m.
The benchmark for Olympics was 85.50m, which Nadeem managed to cross successfully.
It must be noted that Nadeem shot to fame when he finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics, a feat that changed the entire life of the athlete. It not only fetched him fame and wealth but also transformed his personality.
Nadeem then also finished fifth in the World Championship in the US last year. Soon afterwards he recorded his best throw of 90.18 metre in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham which is also a record throw of the quadrennial event.
He then underwent elbow and left knee surgery in London, took time in his rehab and returned to competitive field in May in the 34th National Games in Quetta.
Although he failed to show his fitness there he managed a gold for his department WAPDA. In this event he received a heavy blow when he injured his right knee which later forced him to skip the Asian Championship held in Bangkok recently.