Arshad Nadeem: The giant killer from Pakistan who rewrote Olympic record and outshone friend & rival Neeraj Chopra

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem was the standout performer in the men's javelin finals (X/ImranKhanPTI)

Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem was the standout performer in the men's javelin finals as he stole the spotlight from India's star athlete Neeraj Chopra. Arshad managed a monstrous attempt of 92.97m in his second throw, which assured him of a gold. This throw was special as it ended Pakistan's 32-year long medal drought at sports' biggest stage. The last time Pakistan won an Olympic medal was back in 1992 at Barcelona. The men's hockey team had won a bronze on that occasion.

Arshad started with a foul attempt but ended the event by breaching the 90m mark twice, a target which Neeraj has been chasing for quite some time now. While Arshad's best attempt of 92.97m, also his personal best, saw him smash the Olympic record, he finished the event with a 91.79m throw.

Neeraj, on the other hand, secured a silver medal with his attempt of 89.45m. Out of the six attempts, this was the only valid throw the defending champion managed, but it was more than enough to land him a silver. Grenada's Anderson Peters finished third with his best throw recorded at 88.54m.

Neeraj and Arshad have been together in competitions previously (nine in total before the meet in Paris) and this was the first time the javelin thrower from across the border managed to upstage the Indian. In the 2018 Asian Games, Neeraj and Arshad had shared podium. The Indian had won gold, while Arshad bagged a silver at the event.

We are always natural friends #ArshadNadeem #NeerajChopra #PakistanZindabad #GOLD #OlympicGamesParis pic.twitter.com/5YyuWORRk7

— Arshad Nadeem (@ArshadNadeemPak) August 8, 2024

However, if we compare the two, Arshad was the first, in fact the first in Asia to breach the 90m mark. He achieved the feat at the Commonwealth Games 2022, where he won a gold medal with an attempt of 90.18m. This saw him set a new Commonwealth Games record and a new national record in Pakistan. Neeraj, however, had didn't take part in the event after failing to recover from a groin injury.

Meanwhile, this enormous attempt in Paris also makes Arshad the first athlete from Pakistan to win a track and field medal at the Olympics. He is also the first athlete from Pakistan to qualify for an Olympic final in track and field event. He reached the javelin final on his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where he finished fifth. In 2023, Arshad claimed silver at the world championships, making him the first from his country to win a world medal. Apart from this, Arshad is also the first from his country to win a javelin gold at the Commonwealth Games, which was also Pakistan's first athletics medal at these Games in 56 years.