Arshad Nadeem, considered one of star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s fiercest rivals in worldwide competitions, will head an 18-member Pakistan contingent to the Paris Olympics with the hope of clinching the elusive medal for his nation on the quadrennial showpiece.
The Pakistan Olympic Affiliation on July 15 introduced the contingent comprising seven athletes and 11 officers, together with coaches in 4 disciplines.
Apart from Nadeem, Pakistan’s greatest hope in athletics, the opposite athletes are shooter Kishmala Talat, sprinter Faiqa Riaz and swimmer Jehanara Nabi, amongst others.
Kishmala, a 10m air pistol exponent, is the primary lady sportsperson to qualify for the Olympics in taking pictures sport.
Pakistan’s final medal within the Olympics got here in 1992 Barcelona when the nationwide hockey crew gained bronze.
Since 1948 when Pakistan first took half within the Olympics, it has gained 10 medals with eight of them coming in males’s hockey. The crew has did not qualify for the final two Olympic Video games.
The one reasonable hope for a medal in Paris is javelin thrower Nadeem who had clinched silver behind Neeraj Chopra on the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. He’s additionally a bronze medallist on the 2018 Jakarta Asian Video games the place Neeraj gained gold.
He additionally turned the primary athlete from South Asia to to breach the 90m mark, on the 2022 Commonwealth Video games in Birmingham, which Neeraj missed attributable to harm.
Arshad had completed fifth within the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 84.62 metres with Neeraj clinching gold.
The contingent:
Athletics: Arshad Nadeem, Faiqa Riaz, Salman Iqbal Butt (help workers), Dr. Ali Sher Bajwa (help workers); Swimming: Mohammad Ahmed Durrani, Jehanara Nabi, Ahmed Ali Khan (help workers); Capturing: Ghulam Mustafa Bashir, Gulfam Joseph, Kishmala Talat), Junaid Ali (help workers), Gennady Solodovnikov (help workers).
Contingent officers; Mohammad Shafiq (chef de mission), Javaid Shamshad Lodhi (deputy chef de mission); Zainab Shaukat (admin officer).