In a historic moment for Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold medal in the men’s javelin at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. This victory marks Pakistan’s first individual gold in the history of the Summer Games.
Nadeem’s winning throw of 92.97 meters set a new Olympic record, surpassing the previous mark and leaving his competitors trailing. India’s Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion, secured the silver with a throw of 89.45 meters, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters took the bronze with 88.54 meters.
“When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand and sensed it could be an Olympic record,” Nadeem, 27, said after his monumental achievement, told AP News. This victory adds to his growing list of accolades, which includes a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the Budapest World Championships last year. Nadeem had also finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics.
Reflecting on his journey, Nadeem emphasized the significance of this win for his country. “The result was very important for Pakistan because I have worked very hard over the years for this,” he said. “My training and hard work have paid off.”
The rivalry between Nadeem and Chopra has drawn considerable attention in both Pakistan and India. “The rivalry with Chopra is there, no doubt,” Nadeem acknowledged. “Like cricket, the javelin rivalry was present! People back home in Pakistan and India were eager to see us compete together.”
He further commented on the positive impact of this rivalry, noting that it was “a good thing for the young people in both countries to watch our sport and follow us. It’s a positive thing for both countries.”
Chopra echoed Nadeem’s sentiments, highlighting the potential for their competition to inspire greater interest in athletics, particularly javelin, in their respective countries.
Nadeem, who was thrilled with his Olympic record, expressed his desire to achieve even greater distances in the future. “I was expecting to go even further and I am hoping to go even further,” he said. “I will try harder to even extend my personal best to over 95 meters.”
Before Nadeem’s remarkable achievement, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal at the Olympics. The country’s previous gold medals were all in field hockey, with victories in 1960, 1968, and 1984. Additionally, only two Pakistani athletes had ever won individual medals—both bronze, one in wrestling in 1960 and another in boxing in 1988. Since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Pakistan has not won a medal of any kind.
On the other hand, Chopra, though satisfied with his best throw, admitted to feeling disappointed with his overall performance. “I’m not that happy with my performance today and also my technique and runway was not that good,” he said. “But in javelin, if your run-up is not so good, you can’t go very far.”
Chopra also mentioned that a groin injury had hindered his training in recent years. “The last two, three years were not so good. I’m always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to do some more work on my injury and technique.”
Despite his struggles, Chopra was gracious in defeat, congratulating Nadeem on his victory. “Today’s competition was really great. Arshad threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country.”