Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem has withdrawn from the 35th National Athletics Championship in Karachi due to stomach pain.
According to reports, the javelin thrower is suffering from gastroenteritis, forcing him to pull out of the competition. He was scheduled to compete in the javelin throw event at 11am on Friday.
Arshad attended the opening ceremony at NED University on Thursday, where he lit the Olympic torch to mark the start of the national championship.
The withdrawal comes after a challenging season for the athlete, who has struggled to reproduce his Olympic-winning form in recent international competitions.
Arshad made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics by winning gold with a record-breaking throw of 92.97 metres, setting a new Olympic record and securing Pakistan’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics. He also won silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
In 2025, he won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea with a throw of 86.40 metres. At the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Arshad finished 10th in the javelin throw final with a best effort of 82.75 metres
Arshad finished fifth with a season-best throw of 81.49 metres, at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.
He then placed fourth at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan with a best effort of 80.29 metres, missing out on a medal.
