There won’t be a clash between the two latest Olympic champions – Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra – in the Lausanne Diamond League as the Pakistani star will be skipping the event to prepare for the Asian Games in September.
Nadeem was recently seen in action during the Commonwealth Games and had a horror outing where he finished ninth. His coach Salman Butt revealed that Nadeem won’t be part of the Lausanne leg of the league on August 21 and would soon leave for South Africa for training under his coach, Terseus Liebenberg, and local trainers.
“He has decided against competing in the Diamond League meet this month as he wants to be ready for the Asian Games,” Butt said. He added that the Paris Olympic gold medallist is waiting for his visa to leave for South Africa, where he will train for two weeks in Potchefstroom. This is the same venue where he trained before the Commonwealth Games 2022 and Olympics 2024, both of the tournaments in which he won gold medals.
Nadeem’s horror at Glasgow Games
The Pakistan ace javelin thrower had a poor outing in Glasgow as he not only failed to defend his gold medal but did not get the final three throws after being ninth in the 12-team final. He had a best throw of 77.41m on his second attempt, with one being a fouled throw and the other being an effort of 75.39m. The event was ultimately won by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, while Neeraj came second and India’s Yash Vir Singh third in a double podium for India.
Star-studded list at Lausanne
Although Nadeem won’t take part in the upcoming Diamond League, the entry list for the event is a star-studded one. There will be the reigning Commonwealth Champion Rumesh Pathirage, who also holds the world lead of 92.62m. He speared his javelin to 89.75m in Glasgow to win the gold. Along with Chopra, current world champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and Germany’s former Olympic champion Thomas Rohler will also present their cases in the Swiss city. Jakub Vadlejch, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, Germany’s Julian Weber, Switzerland’s Simon Wieland and American Curtis Thompson are also part of the 10-man field.
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Neeraj Chopra’s next javelin event revealed, ex-Olympic champion to face tough field ahead of Asiad