The journey of Arshad Nadeem from a village in Punjab, Pakistan where he used a bamboo javelin stick to win the Olympics in Paris is worth its weight in gold.
“I built that javelin myself back in 2012,” Nadeem said during an interview with ARY News channel as he recollected the difficult path that took him to fame in a country where few people engage in this sport. Since coming out on top at the Paris Olympics on August 8th, Nadeem has become a national hero. In the javelin throw event, he won the gold medal by outdoing his Indian rival and defending champion Neeraj Chopra who only had to settle for bronze.
It is not just publicity but also substantial amounts of money that have followed outstanding performance from Nadeem.
Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister has pledged to give him 150 million rupees ($538,000) while Mariam Nawaz then handed over a cheque of 100 million rupees ($359000) during her personal visit to the village last Tuesday after visiting his village personally when she was there for some reason.
Nadeem will also receive fifty million rupees from Murad Ali Shah who is chief minister of Sindh.
Being born into a country with more than two hundred and fifty people living within its borders which means cricket dominates every aspect of life especially among young people; at first it was natural for Nadeem to choose cricket over other sports. However, only after his older brother and father guided him towards spear or shot did Nadeem decide to stop playing cricket and focus more on these sports disciplines instead.
“(They told me ‘try shot put or javelin because there’s a chance you might excel in an individual sport rather than a team game like cricket,’,” recalls Nadeem.
He rose to prominence internationally by winning a bronze medal at the South Asia Federation Games in Guwahati, India. It was during this competition that Nadeem first encountered Chopra, who eventually won gold.
Chopra carried on his success at this year’s Tokyo Olympics with another gold medal. Nadeem also performed admirably, casting a throw of 84.62 meters and ending up in fifth place overall.
“I started training for Paris right after Tokyo Olympics because I knew it, I can do something special for Pakistan,” Nadeem said in the TV interview that aired on Thursday.
Pakistan’s last Olympic gold medal victory came way back in 1984 at the Los Angeles Games when their men’s hockey squad emerged as champions.
For example, Pakistan participated in just seven sportspeople’s events during the Paris Olympics. Among them were six swimmers or athletes who competed but did not reach the medals podiums either. This left Nadeem as the only remaining Pakistani athlete with any chance of getting onto a rostrum at all.
“I stopped watching social media two days before the qualifying round because I was the last hope of millions of Pakistanis back home,” said Nadeem.
In qualifying round he threw over 86 meters making to go to final. Nevertheless, he faulted his initial throw in finals but managed to pull himself together to throw again With an explosive power he sent it off The javelin went 92.97 meters hitting a new Olympic Record thus becoming one of athletics history legends.
Arshad Ahmed Saqi, Nadeem’s first trainer, who hailed from a small village in Mian Channu district of Punjab province, sent Nadeem to Lahore for provincial level tournament in 2012.
After his second throw in the final in Paris, Nadeem was confident enough that he would get gold but still struggled to go even further at his last four attempts.
Nadeem said, “I believe it. My last throw was also above 90 meters because I had faith in myself. One day I will break the world record hopefully.”
His wife Ayesha did not sleep throughout the night rather stayed awake praying for him.
Meanwhile, back at home where his family resides they remained glued to their television sets till late hours of the night watching him live.
“I never slept for three nights,” Ayesha said. “I knew he can and I didn’t stop praying for him.”
(IANS)
