BUDAPEST: The throw was pure and Arshad Nadeem knew that the moment he let the javelin go. Up went the arms, a smile on his face.

Arshad had not only confirmed a spot in the World Athletics Championships final but also surpassed the qualifying mark for next year’s Olympics in Paris — by well over a metre.

A monstrous throw of 86.79 metres on his third and final attempt at the National Athletics Centre on Friday saw Arshad top qualifying Group B and book his spot in Sunday’s final.

The automatic qualifying mark for the final was 83m or at least the top 12 from both Group A and B.

The qualifying mark for the Paris Olympics was set at 85.50m with the window having opened on July 1.

Arshad, though, can set a marker for the Games in the Hungarian capital if he manages to clinch gold.

On his return to international action after almost a year since he won gold at the Islamic Games, the Commonwealth Games champion opened with an understandably rusty first attempt of 70.63m.

The pressure seemed to have ramped up when he went for his second attempt when he first pulled out and then with the timer ticking, he found his usual range — the javelin hitting the 81.53m mark.

Everything then fell perfectly for his last attempt and Arshad will renew his rivalry with India’s Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the final.

Chopra sailed into the final, posting a season’s best mark of 88.77m in just his first attempt — over six metres further than the second best-throw of Group A by Germany’s Julian Weber (82.39).

Chopra, 25, said he had sensed he was in top form when he arrived at the stadium.

“I was able to save energy for the final since I threw with only 90 percent effort,” he said. “I will definitely give everything in the final as I would like to have a world gold as well. I hope we make our country proud again. Of course, the pressure is higher on me but I like these challenges.”

Chopra’s team-mate D.P. Manu had the third best throw of the group with 81.31m and also progressed.

India will have have three competitors after Kishore Jena posted a mark of 80.55m in Group B, topped by Arshad.

Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic, who won silver medal behind Chopra in Tokyo Olympics, was second in Group B and third overall with a best throw of 83.50m.

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who has been struggling for form this season, failed to qualify for the final after finishing seventh in Group A and 16th overall with a best throw of 78.49m.

MAYER’S TITLE DEFENCE

ENDS EARLY

Friday’s early action also saw Kevin Mayer’s defence of his decathlon title last just two events as the left Achilles problem that had been niggling him proved too much.

The writing had been on the wall for two-time world champion Mayer from the start as his 100m time of 10.79sec was well off his best.

The long jump confirmed his problems as a leap of 7.25m — some way off his personal best of 7.80m — left him shaking his head ruefully.

Trailing in 16th place and over 200 points adrift of Olympic champion David Warner, Mayer called it a day and will hope for better things in front of his home fans at the Paris Olympics next year.

“There is frustration but also I am at peace with myself,” said the 31-year-old Mayer, who had been undergoing eight hours of physiotherapy on a daily basis since he first realised he had the problem a fortnight ago. “I gave everything and now I can go on holiday with a free mind. My body is telling me I need to rest before the Olympic Games.”

As he bowed out the battle to take his world crown heated up.

However, it was not Warner who led after three events but surprise package Leo Neugebauer from Germany.

The 23-year-old treated the sparse crowd to two celebratory fist-pumping displays after recording personal bests in both the long jump and the shot put.

The latter saw him soar past Warner in the overall standings, turning a 28-point deficit into a 96-point lead -- 2,908 to 2,812.

Two Ukrainians, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Geraschenko, will bid to bring some joy to their compatriots back home in Sunday’s high jump final after qualifying on Friday.

Mahuchikh seeking to win gold after two world silvers eased into the final, jumping 1.92m. Her team-mate Iryna Geraschenko also made the final, squeezing in with a best jump of 1.89m.

BOL STRIKES HURDLES GOLD

In Thursday’s evening session, Femke Bol struck gold in the 400m hurdles amid an unexpected Jamaican double gold rush.

Bol made up for the disappointment of falling with the line at her mercy in the mixed 4x400m relay by producing a totally dominant victory in the hurdles in 51.70 seconds.

In the absence of defending world and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, American Shamier Little claimed silver, more than one second behind Bol, while Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton rounded out the podium.

Clayton’s bronze was one of five medals Jamaica won out of a potential 15 on offer on day six of action.

Two of those were surprise golds.

First up was Danielle Williams, who shocked the field to reclaim her world 100m hurdles crown after previously winning the title in Beijing in 2015.

Then came 21-year-old Antonio Watson, who also upset a loaded field including South African world record holder Wayde van Niekerk to win gold in the men’s 400m.

It looked like there might have been a third Jamaican gold in the men’s long jump, but Greece’s Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou went out to 8.52 metres with his sixth and final jump to push Wayne Pinnock into silver position.

Pinnock’s Jamaican team-mate Tajay Gayle claimed bronze.

The second field event of the night saw Camryn Rogers win the women’s hammer world title to give Canada their second gold in the event at the championships after Ethan Katzberg was crowned men’s champion at the weekend.

Rogers took gold with a best effort of 77.22m, last year’s bronze medallist Janee’ Kassanavoid of the United States finishing second (76.36m). Kas­s­a­navoid’s teammate DeAnna Price took the bronze (75.41).

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023