Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, the reigning Olympic champion, has acknowledged the pressure of defending his men’s javelin throw title at the Commonwealth Games 2026, which gets underway at Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23.
Nadeem, who won gold at Birmingham 2022 with a new Commonwealth Games record throw of 90.18m, admitted that expectations have only grown since his record-breaking triumph four years ago and so has the level of competition.
“Four years after I broke the Commonwealth Games record in 2022, I remain in the same position. There is also pressure on me that I have been the champion for four years and now I will need to again do well to retain the title,” Arshad Nadeem told Pakistani publication Dawn.
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At Birmingham 2022, Nadeem did not have to square off against arch-rival Neeraj Chopra, who had opted to skip defending the title he had won at Gold Coast 2018 on account of an injury. The Pakistani had finished eighth in that edition.
The Arshad Nadeem vs Neeraj Chopra rivalry has emerged as one of the highlights in world athletics today.
Though the Indian javelin thrower holds a 10-1 lead in head-to-head meetings, Nadeem, perhaps, boasts the most memorable triumph, having denied Neeraj a successful title defence at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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The Pakistani ace came up with a 92.97m effort – a new Olympic record – on the big night to trump his Indian rival.
Since then, the two have met only once – at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. Both were far from their best and produced underwhelming results there.
The emergence of Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage, who recently logged 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League and also won the Doha Diamond League, has also added a new dimension to the battle for South Asian javelin supremacy.
Pathirage holds four of the top throws in men’s javelin this year and is expected to be a contender at Glasgow 2026.
“I strongly feel that the competition in Glasgow will be tough this time too but I am prepared for it,” Nadeem said. “There is always pressure while entering the field, only then that pressure has to be controlled.”
Neeraj Chopra had echoed the same assessment before starting his season at the Doha Diamond League last month. He stated the competition for the Commonwealth Games crown ‘will be no less than the Olympics or World Championships’.
Unlike Neeraj or Pathirage, though, Nadeem is yet to start his season in 2026 but has been training in Lahore.
However, the Pakistani athlete confirmed that he will be competing in an international competition in Switzerland before making the trip to Glasgow.
“I am going to feature in an event in Switzerland before a major competition like the Commonwealth Games. I participate in an event before any big contest, which gives me an idea about my strength and preparation for the forthcoming major event,” the 29-year-old Nadeem said.
