Pakistan celebrates its first Olympic medal by Arshad Nadeem in decades as javelin hero breaks Games record
Pakistan partied late into the night after javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem won the country’s first ever Olympic track and field medal with a Games record throw of 92.97 meters to take gold in Paris.
The normally cricket-mad nation stayed up late Thursday night to watch Nadeem clinch Pakistan’s first Olympic medal since the men’s field hockey team won bronze in Barcelona 32 years ago.
“Our brother has won the gold medal and I’ve lost my voice because I’ve been celebrating all night,” his brother Shahid Nadeem told CNN on Friday from the family’s home in Mian Channu, in Pakistan’s Punjab state.
“When he gets home we will celebrate him in such a way that the world will never forget!. We are simple people and will celebrate with kheer (local rice pudding) and whatever Allah gives us, we are happy!” he said.
Nadeem threw his arms into the air in celebration as the board confirmed the record-breaking throw, eliciting gasps of amazement from spectators.
“When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah (God willing),” Nadeem said later.
In winning gold, Arshad defeated India’s sporting hero and reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra. who took silver with a throw of 89.45, ahead of Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who threw 88.54 meters for bronze.
Arshad Nadeem Triumph for the nation
Pakistan is now waiting for the moment that Nadeem stands atop the podium to receive his gold medal — the country’s first Olympic gold since its men’s field hockey team won in Los Angeles in 1984.
Pakistan sports journalist Altamish Jiwa told CNN that Nadeem’s gold was a “humungous victory for all of Pakistan” and one that had buoyed the nation’s spirits.
“Nadeem has delivered the perfect gift which the nation has been waiting for quite some time. the feeling of triumph and collective joy which the country has been deprived of for many years, not just on the sporting front. but simply in everyday walk of life,” Jiwa said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Nadeem on his achievement, commenting on X, “You’ve made the whole nation proud young man.”
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