Arshad Nadeem cruised to the Olympic javelin final with a solid 86.59m throw in Tuesday’s qualifier round at Stade de France, keeping the nation’s hopes for an Olympic medal well and alive.
His season best throw, the first and only of the qualifier, ranks him fourth heading into Thursday’s night finals.
Reigning Olympic and world champion India’s Neeraj Chopra led the field with a massive 89.34m throw, also a season best.
Sandwiched between the two South Asians were Grenada’s Anderson Peters in third place (88.63m) and reigning European Champion Julian Weber in fourth with a 87.76m. All four athletes walked away from the qualifier round with a lone throw that saw them comfortably through to the final.
Kenya’s Rio 2016 silver medalist sealed a fifth place ranking in the final after an 85.97m throw in his third attempt, which was also a season best.
Brazil’s Luiz Maurício da Silva was having a field day as he threw a personal best and broke the South American record with an 85.91m throw to land in sixth place.
