World Athletics
Paris
Arshad Nadeem smashed the Olympic record to get javelin gold, Pakistan’s first ever Olympic medal in athletics, at the Paris 2024 Games on Thursday.
Throwing a 92.97m Asian record in the second round, he launched himself into the history books and took the title ahead of defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India and two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.
Chopra secured his silver with an 89.45m throw, while 88.54m by Peters got him bronze.
Nadeem’s throw improves on the Olympic record of 90.57m that was set by Andreas Thorkildsen in 2008.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Grant Holloway, winner of five world titles indoors and out, earned a long-awaited Olympic gold at the Paris 2024 Games.
The 26-year-old was surprisingly beaten into silver by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, but then went on to win two world titles outdoors and two world titles indoors.
He arrived in Paris undefeated this year indoors and out. He had lowered his own world indoor 60m hurdles record to 7.27 in February, then won the world indoor title in Glasgow. He ran a world-leading 12.86 to win the US Title in Eugene in late June and was the big favourite to win here in the French capital.
But he knew, more than anyone, that the race isn’t won until it’s run. He had impressed throughout the rounds, winning his heat in 13.01 and his semifinal in 12.98. In the final he got out fast and had built a clear lead over teammate Daniel Roberts after just a few hurdles. Roberts and Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell started to close slightly in the closing stages, but Holloway held on to take gold in 12.99 (-0.1m/s), leading a US 1-2 from Roberts.
Roberts and Broadbell were both timed at 13.09 but Roberts was awarded silver in a photo finish, three thousandths of a second ahead of the Jamaican. Spain’s Enrique Llopis was fourth in 13.20, just 0.01 ahead of Japan’s Rachid Muratake.
Freddie Crittenden was sixth in 13.32. He had made good use of the repechage round earlier in the Games after feeling a slight twinge in his heat, jogging to the line in 18.27 and then winning his repechage in 13.42 and advancing through the semi-finals.
Jamaica’s Orlando Bennett (13.34) and defending champion Parchment (13.39) rounded out the finalists.