LAHORE: Arshad Nadeem’s coach Salman Butt on Tuesday said that every effort will be made to make the premier javelin thrower fitter ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Every effort will be made to make Arshad fitter so that Pakistan could get the maximum benefit of his presence in the Olympics,” Butt told The News.
Arshad will be the sole medal hope of the country in the Paris Olympics. This will be the second time that Arshad will be featuring in the Olympics. He finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics and that feat made him a popular athlete in the entire world.
Arshad is nursing right knee injury and it was the same injury which also forced him to pull out of the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou recently. It was just on the eve of the javelin throw event when Arshad decided to skip the quadrennial event.
Arshad was expected to start his rehab in the first week of this month but Salman Butt said that he is on rest. “He is taking rest and it’s off-season so that he could refresh himself which is very necessary,” Butt said.
“InshaAllah he will come to Lahore to start his rehab and training either in the end of November or in the start of December,” Butt said. “First he will undergo a rehab. The injury, which he has developed, will be assessed thoroughly by conducting an X-Ray and MRI and the reports will be forwarded to the doctor and he will advise us about rehab,” Butt said. “The rehab will be conducted for four to six weeks. It will be followed by training. Then his injury will be reassessed and his MRI again will be conducted. This is our plan,” Butt said.
Butt said that Arshad’s medical reports are sent regularly to London-based surgeon Dr Ali Sher Bajwa.
“We send all results to Dr Ali Sher Bajwa and he is kept updated,” Butt said.
Dr Bajwa also accompanied Arsahd during the last two World Championships in the US and Hungary. In the US event, which was held just before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Arshad finished fifth while in the Hungary World Championship this summer Arshad created history by taking the first-ever silver medal in Pakistan’s athletics history in the global event with a throw of 87.82 metre.
Butt also confirmed that Arshad will also not feature in the National Championship next month due to the injury.
“He is injured and there is no question about his participation in the national event. We will assess his injury first and then the situation will become clear,” Butt said.
Alam Zeb Safi Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News