Arshad Nadeem finishes fourth in Asian Games javelin final

Arshad Nadeem ended the men’s javelin final in fourth place at the Asian Games on Monday despite producing his best throw of the season.

The Olympic champion sent the javelin 80.29 metres at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, but Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage dominated the competition to take gold. Rain made conditions difficult throughout the event, with a wet runway adding to the challenge for the throwers.

Arshad opened with 76.69m before recording a foul on his second attempt. He then produced his best effort of the season with his third throw, reaching 80.29m and moving into fourth position.

The Pakistani athlete could not improve his mark after that, registering fouls on each of his final three attempts.

Pathirage took control of the competition with a 88.33m throw in the fourth round after initially recording 83.56m. He went even further in his final attempt, throwing 88.55m to secure the gold medal.

India’s Yashvir Singh won silver with a personal best of 85.72m, while Rohit Yadav took bronze with 84.35m.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Yasir finished ninth with a best throw of 73.50m.

The fourth-place finish adds to a challenging season for Arshad, who has been unable to reproduce the form that delivered Olympic gold in Paris. His winning throw there measured a record 92.97m.

He also finished ninth at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and fifth at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.