Neeraj Chopra: It’s hard to believe Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem is struggling to get a new javelin

India’s Neeraj Chopra expressed astonishment that his rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan is struggling to get a new javelin, given his standing in the world of athletics.

Pakistan’s ace javelin exponent Nadeem won the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham with a massive 90.18m throw. He had bagged the bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, where Chopra had clinched the top spot.

While Chopra, the Olympic and world champion, and Nadeem are fierce competitors on the field, they are known for their camaraderie off the pitch.

“It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin. Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all,” Chopra told SAI Media on Monday.

Nadeem recently said he has been struggling to acquire an international-standard javelin for several years and expressed his frustration about that.

“It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged, and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics,” Nadeem had said recently.

“When I started in 2015, competing in international events, I got this javelin … for an international athlete aiming to win a medal in the Olympic Games, you need proper equipment and training facilities,” Nadeem added.

Chopra said Nadeem should get all the support from the Pakistani government.