Hitting the Mark Arshad’s Way: A Record-Shattering Javelin Throw at the Paris Olympics

Not many of us can recall another moment when the entire nation stayed awake, anxiously glued to their television screens at midnight—except perhaps during high-stakes cricket matches of yesteryears—like they did last night during the Paris Olympics Men’s Javelin Throw, where a small-town Pakistani boy made history.

The nation erupted into euphoria as Arshad Nadeem clinched Pakistan’s first individual gold medal, with a monstrous and record-shattering 92.97-meter throw, ending a lingering Olympic medal drought for the country. Pakistan went without any gold medal for over 40 years and a medal of any color for 32 years.

Gold for Pakistan at the world’s biggest stage and with an Olympic record is no mean feat, but what makes Arshad Nadeem’s story special is that he cracked it without significant support and encouragement at the government and institutional levels. Coming from a humble background in Mian Channu, Punjab, his journey was full of challenges, heartbreaks, and pain but he kept going, mostly powered by his grit and will to persevere.

Arshad finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and was the first Pakistani track and field athlete to qualify for the games. He won gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games. He went on to win a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships 2023.

His performance at the Tokyo Olympics catapulted him into the nation’s conscience, but Arshad didn’t receive the recognition he deserved from a nation eternally entranced by cricket. He battled with injuries and exhausted his financial means on medical care.

Notably, his collaboration with PTCL & Ufone was particularly significant as it generated nationwide support for the athlete and rekindled the nation’s hope for Olympic glory through a media campaign, ‘Ae Jawan, Seena Taan’ ‘O Youngman,(Fight) with Pride’. This overwhelming support provided him the much-needed reassurance and encouragement to hit the farthest mark and shatter decade-old records.

Arshad exemplifies Pakistan’s raw talent that if nourished and provided the opportunity can stun the world. It is about time, Pakistan rethought its priorities concerning sports. For a nation of 240 million people, our presence at the Olympics was underwhelming. We could manage to send only 7 athletes and 6 of them couldn’t even make it to the final stage.

It is time to reflect if it is our unhealthy obsession with cricket that smothers our talent in other sports, or the hopeless incompetency of our sports authorities, particularly those related to the Olympics that hampers our youth from reaching their full potential.

Let’s hope Arshad Nadeem’s example will reset our priorities and renew our faith in the talent of our youngsters to enhance our mark on the global sports landscape.