Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has come in for criticism after his disappointing performance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Nadeem finished ninth with a sub-80 effort, with Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage winning gold and India’s Neeraj Chopra and Yash Vir Singh finishing second and third, respectively.

The outcome was not unexpected, keeping in mind Arshad took part in only one preparatory event in Switzerland in 2026 for the CWG and that he spent all his time training in the hot weather in Lahore without working with any foreign coaches or trainers in person.

Arshad, who has previously trained under South African coach Terseus Liebengberg, trained with his local trainers and coach Salman Butt.

Meanwhile, Arshad’s archrival Neeraj had his final preparation and rehabilitation camp at his training camp in Biene in Switzerland, and the other Indians, Rohit Yadav and Yash Vir, trained in Spala, Poland, with foreign coaches and trainers.

READ: CWG 2026: All-Asian javelin podium as Pathirage pips Neeraj to win gold, Yash Vir clinches bronze

Arshad, defending champion at the Commonwealth Games after winning the gold in Birmingham 2022 with a best of 90.12 metres, was unable to even cross the 80-metre mark in the finals in Glasgow.

He failed to qualify for the final round of eight due to his poor performance, dashing Pakistan’s hopes of another medal in the Games.

For his fans it was a big letdown, especially having had won the Olympic gold medal with a record throw of 92.97.

Butt admitted that Arshad was nowhere near his best in the CWG and was underprepared.

While Arshad is also to be partially blamed for his fall, as he clearly didn’t look 100 per cent fit in the finals, he has also had to battle many issues off the track; the biggest one being the Pakistan Amateur Athletics Federation (PAAF) totally disowning him after a feud over the retention of Butt as coach last year.

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A reliable source close to Arshad said that since late last year, the PAAF and even the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) have not made life easy for the javelin thrower.

The PAAF, the source said, totally distanced itself from Arshad’s preparations and left him on his own, and when he made a few requests pertaining to his training, they were not entertained.

Similarly, the PSB also didn’t release any funds for foreign coaches to help Arshad train even in Lahore.

“This is an athlete who is self-made and comes from a village and belonged to a low-income family. But he brought so much glory to Pakistan with his gold medals. And yet he couldn’t prepare properly for the CWG. It is a sad reflection on our sports structure,” former Olympic boxing bronze medallist Hussain Shah said.

Even Pakistan’s first female to win a medal in the Commonwealth Games, boxer Fatima Zehra, has rued that if she had got better training and exposure, she could have won the gold in her weight category.

Fatima still managed to bag a bronze in the boxing event, which is Pakistan’s only medal in the CWG thus far after sending a 36-member contingent.

Published on Aug 02, 2026