PARIS: Arshad Nadeem brings pride to Pakistan for his recent achievement of getting the first-ever track and field medal and gold in the men’s javelin final at the Olympics in Paris. The 27-year-old athlete triumphed, and most importantly, he beat the Olympic record set earlier and became the new Olympic champion, leaving behind the defending Olympic champion, Neeraj Chopra from India, in the event held at the Stade de France on Thursday.
Nadeem’s win, of course, has been hailed as a historic moment for the cash-strapped Pakistan, which lacks resources to support athletic Venables Silva.
In his second attempt, throwing increased by 3m; thus, Nadeem threw 92. Ninety-seven meters became the Olympic record and the best heave in the world this year. It remained a moment that left spectators and competitors dumbfounded when he rose from the bicycle and lifted his arms up in triumph, fully aware that he was creating history.
In the finals, unlike in the qualifiers, where Chopra was unbeatable, he had a poor day in the field. His best effort to achieve that recorded 89. Forty-five meters was his only clean attempt because the other five times, he was fouling. Nevertheless, Chopra could not equal Nadeem’s performance by hurling the spear beyond the previous record.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters was the next best performer, scoring 88 to bag the bronze medal. 54 meters. This was sweet for Peters, a two-time world champion, given that he did not make the final at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
However, the focus was on Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem, a simple boy from Mian Channu, a small city in the eastern part of Punjab province in Pakistan. Nadeem’s story is that he also faced some form of setback early this year with a knee injury. This is especially the case given that the general state of athletics facilities needs improvement in Pakistan, which revolves around cricket.
Preceding Nadeem’s gold medal, Pakistan won eight Olympic medals. Out of them, six were won in men’s hockey, one in men’s wrestling and one in boxing. His achievement also was an excellent relief for Pakistan, as the country has been without an Olympic medal since 1992, bringing the men’s hockey team the bronze at Barcelona, Spain.
This news was widely welcomed with joy and pride manifested by fellow Pakistanis out at the core of Nadeem. Cricketer Fakhar Zaman conveys the nation’s pride through his social media account. In contrast, Nadeem’s former coach Rasheed Ahmad Saqi, who also played his last international match in September 2005, was overwhelmed. Another mentor for Nadeem named Saqi also celebrated, labelling the triumph a ‘miracle’ and a ‘blessing for the whole nation’ incredibly close to Pakistan’s independence week.
To Saqi’s surprise, he had always thought that Nadeem was capable of achieving a grand history in the Olympics and that besides clinching a medal, he was capable of setting one, too. “I had this belief that he would break some record,” Saqi said. I was certain he would break his own record or the Olympic record, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Nadeem for this historic instance, saying on his Twitter handle, “You’ve made the whole nation proud. ”
Nadeem’s excellent show in Paris will always be written in golden words in Pakistan sports history to teach the young generation.
