On Tuesday, Arshad Nadeem received a total of 250 million rupees (€813,000): 150 million were announced by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at a special ceremony in his honour in Islamabad. And Punjab Chief Minister Mariam Nawaz visited Nadeem's house in a village in Mian Channu district and presented him with a cheque for 100 million rupees (€325,000). He also handed him the keys to a new car with a special "PAK 92.97" number plate to commemorate the launch of his 92.97 metres.

Record

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the men's javelin title in Paris, his country's first individual gold at the Summer Games. They have won gold before, but as part of a team. All of Pakistan's previous three gold medals came in field hockey, with their team winning gold in 1960, 1968 and 1984. They had not won a medal since Barcelona 92.

Nadeem broke the Olympic record of 92.97 metres to win the event, with defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India taking silver with 89.45 metres

Nadeem was the 2022 Commonwealth champion, fifth at the Tokyo Olympics and a silver medallist at last year's Budapest world championship.

Rival

He referred to the historic rivalry with India in the sport. His rival Chopra echoed his sentiments, seeing it as an incentive for youngsters from both countries.

Chopra captured India’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics when he threw 87.58 metres in Tokyo. Last year, he also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships beating Nadeem with an 88.17m throw.

However, Chopra was yet to hit the 90m mark, unlike his rival Nadeem who threw a 90.18 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham —ending Pakistan’s 60-year wait for a CWG gold medal.

Difficulties

The son of a retired construction worker, Nadeem, 27, is the third of eight siblings and, like most Pakistanis, was drawn to cricket, but later switched to javelin.

Pakistan does not have a proper ground dedicated to athletics, so athletes have to train on the cricket field. Nadeem trained with ramshackle equipment and with little access to the gyms and training grounds available to his international competitors. The athletes used to use wooden sticks with a rope tied around them as a javelin.
In March, Nadeem revealed that he only owned one javelin, which he had been using for the past seven years, and that it was damaged. He had to launch a crowdfunding campaign in which he received support from his rival, Chopra.