In addition to Pakistan’s top track prospect in Arshad Nadeem, other athletes include swimmer Jehanara Nabi, sprinter Faiqa Riaz, and marksman Kishmala Talat.
Leading the 18-person Pakistani delegation to the Paris Olympics in the hopes of winning the elusive gold for his nation in the quadrennial spectacle is Arshad Nadeem, one of the biggest rivals of star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra in international events. This group of seven athletes and eleven officials—including coaches in four different disciplines—was revealed by the Pakistan Olympic Association on Monday. The other sportsmen are swimmer Jehanara Nabi, sprinter Faiqa Riaz, shooter Kishmala Talat, and Nadeem, Pakistan’s top track prospect.
Kishmala is the first female athlete to qualify for the Olympics in a shooting event. She competes in 10m air pistol.
The national hockey team of Pakistan earned bronze at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, their final medal in the games.
Pakistan has won ten medals at the Olympics since it began competing in 1948, with eight of those coming from men’s hockey. The group hasn’t made it to the Olympic Games in the previous two years.
The javelin thrower Nadeem, who finished second behind Neeraj Chopra in the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, is the only one with a serious chance to medal in Paris. In the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, where Neeraj won gold, he also took home a bronze medal.
In the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Neeraj was unable to participate in because of injury, he also made history as the first athlete from South Asia to clear the 90-meter mark.
Neeraj won gold in the throwing competition in Tokyo, whilst Arshad placed fifth with a throw of 84.62 meters.
The contingent:
Athletics: Arshad Nadeem, Faiqa Riaz, Salman Iqbal Butt (support staff), Dr. Ali Sher Bajwa (support staff); Swimming: Mohammad Ahmed Durrani, Jehanara Nabi, Ahmed Ali Khan (support staff); Shooting: Ghulam Mustafa Bashir, Gulfam Joseph, Kishmala Talat), Junaid Ali (support staff), Gennady Solodovnikov (support staff).
