With hardly three months to go for the start of the biggest global quadrennial sporting extravaganza in Paris, most athletes across the globe must be giving final touches to their Olympic preparations. But for Pakistan’s star javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, one of the fiercest on-field rivals of reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and close friend off it, it’s a distant dream due to non-availability of quality javelins.

Nadeem, who came up with the magic mark of 90.18m throw to claim the gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, on Thursday revealed that the only international standard javelin that he had is currently out of shape. Consequently, Nadeem is currently training with a locally-made javelin but that could lead to injury in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.

“I have been training for the Paris Olympics with a locally-made javelin for the past seven to eight years. The international standard javelin which I had is out of shape. For international competitions, I need five to six top quality javelins,” Nadeem was quoted as saying by a Pakistani TV channel.

“Using sub-standard local javelins could also lead to injuries,” he added.

The 27-year-old, who skipped the Asian Games in Hangzhou due to a knee issue, is Pakistan’s brightest medal hope for a medal in Paris. Nadeem, who recently underwent a surgery on his elbow, said he has been using the international standard javelin in his possession for the past seven-eight years.

Nadeem is hopeful of participating in a couple of events to test himself before the Paris Olympics. He also revealed plans of travelling to South Africa for training.

Nadeem, who had qualified for Paris after finishing second to gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in the World Championships in Hungary last year, had skipped most events in the past one year, including the Asian Championships and Asian Throwing Championships, besides the Asian Games, and hopes to attain full fitness before competing at the Paris Games.

In the previous edition of the Olympics in Tokyo, Nadeem finished a credible fifth with a throw of 84.62m in the final.