Reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem opened his 2026 athletics season with an underwhelming performance, failing to breach the 80m mark and finishing ninth in the javelin throw event at the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern meeting in Switzerland on Thursday.
Competing at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event at Stadion Allmend, the Pakistani javelin ace registered a best effort of 78.47m with his final throw. Nadeem’s series read: X, 74.87m, 73.26m, X, 73.39m, 78.47m.
Germany’s Julian Weber, also opening his athletics season, won the competition with a best throw of 87.04m, while Australia’s Cameron McEntyre (85.73m) and Lithuania’s Edis Matusevicius (83.34m) completed the podium.
Thomas Röhler of Germany, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion, finished fifth with an 80.30m throw while compatriot Max Dehning finished 12th in the 18-man field with a 75.20m effort.
The outing marked Nadeem’s first competition since November last year and comes just weeks before he begins the defence of his Commonwealth Games crown at Glasgow 2026.
Nadeem won the men’s javelin throw gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with a Games record throw of 90.18m.
The 29-year-old Nadeem will also renew his rivalry with India’s Neeraj Chopra later this month. Chopra, a two-time Olympic medallist, opened his 2026 season with 85.69m at the Doha Diamond League in June.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga currently owns the world-leading mark this season after throwing 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League.
Rohit Yadav, meanwhile, owns India’s season-best with 87.05m, achieved at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in June.
Nadeem recently acknowledged the pressure of defending his Commonwealth Games title, noting that the competition in Glasgow would be tougher than ever.
Neeraj Chopra, Rohit Yadav and Rumesh Tharanga will also be competing in the javelin throw event at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/arshad-nadeem-spitzen-leichtathletik-luzern-2026-athletics-javelin-throw
