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PARIS: Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the men’s javelin throw at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, Pakistan’s first individual gold medal at the Summer Olympics.
Nadeem won the championship with a score of 92.97 meters, breaking the Olympic record; India’s defending champion Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal with a score of 89.45 meters; Grenada’s Anderson Peters won the bronze medal with a score of 88.54 meters.
“When I threw the javelin, I felt it leave my hand and realized it could be an Olympic record,” the 27-year-old Nadeem said.
Nadeem, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics and won silver at last year’s world championships in Budapest, said the result was “very important for Pakistan because I have been working for this for many years”.
“My training and hard work paid off.”
He added that the rivalry with Chopra “is there, for sure.”
“Just like cricket, javelin throwing also exists! People in Pakistan and India are eager to see us play together.
“In cricket and other sports, rivalry exists and there is rivalry between the two countries but it is good for the youth of both countries to watch our sports and follow us.
“This is a good thing for both countries.”
Chopra agreed, saying it would benefit both countries and attract more people to athletics, especially javelin.
Nadim said he is ambitious and hopes to shoot further.
“I was expecting to go further, I was hoping to go further,” he said after the new Olympic record surpassed his previous best by more than two metres.
“I will work harder to extend my personal best to over 95 meters.”
Before Arshad’s stunning victory, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
Pakistan’s previous three gold medals came in hockey, with their teams winning gold medals in 1960, 1968 and 1984 respectively.
Before Thursday, only two Pakistani athletes had won individual medals, a bronze in wrestling in 1960 and in boxing in 1988.
Pakistan has not won any medals since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Chopra was pleased with his best throw, but that was it.
“I’m not too happy with my performance today and my technique and positioning weren’t very good,” he said.
“Only one throw, the rest were fouls. The second time, I was sure I could throw that far. But in javelin, if your run-up isn’t great, you can’t throw far.”
Chopra admitted that he had not been doing much throwing in training due to a groin injury.
“The last two or three years haven’t been great. I was always injured. I tried really hard but I still have to work more on my injuries and my technique.”
“But I will work hard in the future. Today’s match was very exciting. Arshad bowled very well. Congratulations to him and his country.” – AFP
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