Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem bagged a gold medal Sunday in the javelin throw competition at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, setting a new record and becoming the first South Asian to breach the 90-meter mark.
Nadeem finished with a 90.18-meter throw to surpass world champion Anderson Peters from Grenada despite an elbow injury, adding a second gold to his country's medal tally.
Pakistan won a gold medal in athletics last time in the 1952 Commonwealth Games.
Nadeem hurled the javelin 86.81m in the first attempt and made it better in the third attempt with 88m. His second attempt was declared foul.
The Pakistani athlete's hopes for a gold medal faded after Peters threw the javelin 88.64m, making it harder for the injured Nadeem to break the tally.
A rejuvenated Nadeem, however, set a new Commonwealth Games record by throwing the javelin 90.18m in his fifth attempt, ensuring another gold medal for his country.
The previous Commonwealth Games record was 87.38m set by South African athlete Marius Corbett in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
Nadeem also beat Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra's throw of 87.58m (gold) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Chopra's throw of 88.13m at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July this year.
Pakistan has so far won eight medals in the ongoing Commonwealth Games, including a gold in weightlifting by Nooh Dastagir Butt in the super heavyweight category.
The South Asian country has won two silver and as many bronze medals in wrestling and one bronze in judo. -
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