LAHORE: Ace javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem ended Pakistan’s decades-long game drought by winning gold at the Paris Olympics. Early on Sunday morning, a jubilant crowd gathered at the Lahore airport to greet the champion, who had ended Pakistan’s drought and was thrilled with Nadeem’s performance.
Before his arrival, the presidency made a statement stating that Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the gold medallist, would receive one of the highest state honors for his incredible achievement in the men’s javelin throw in Paris, where he threw a monster 92.97 meters. Mr. Nadeem arrived on a Turkish airline approximately twenty-three minutes after the scheduled landing. He was dressed in a green T-shirt.
To the sound of drumbeats and patriotic cries, the supporters hailed his comeback while dousing him with petals. Speaking to the media, the Olympic champion expressed his gratitude to his coach for the preparations that allowed him to break the Olympic record and to the entire country for their support.
Along with the Pakistan and Punjab sports boards, his physician Ali Sher Bajwa, and the late president of the Athletics Federation of Pakistan Akram Sahi, expressed his gratitude. “A great deal of effort went into achieving this. Even my supporters and others showed me honor and respect for my performance in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. I had hoped for a medal there, but I was not fully fit at the time due to an elbow issue and could not excel. Salman Butt, my coach, and my doctor both put a lot of effort into helping me with my fitness issue,” he stated.
He said that the federation had sent him to the Diamond League before the Paris competition, which had raised his spirits and prepared him for the Olympics in Paris. Along with Mr. Nadeem’s family and cousins from Mian Channu, a sizable crowd was present at the airport, including Arshad Nadeem’s former coach Fayyaz Bukhari and elite javelin thrower Yasir Ali. Mr. Ali, who took home a silver medal from Asian competition, claimed that Arshad Nadeem’s unprecedented win had motivated him and revitalized the sport in his nation.
Unique postage stamp
On August 14, in addition to Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Arshad Nadeem’s accomplishment will be honored with a commemorative postal stamp. Meanwhile, rumors that the FBR is preparing to tax the award money that Arshad Nadeem has received or would get were dismissed as unfounded as “misleading and disturbing.”
