Arshad NADEEM

It was Pakistan’s first medal at the Olympics since Barcelona 1992 and the first one in an individual competition since Seoul 1988.

The Paris triumph was also the first meeting where Nadeem beat Chopra in 10 outings. While Chopra and Nadeem headline the India vs Pakistan rivalry on the sporting field, the two, however, are also friends.

The 90m effort in Paris, however, was not Nadeem’s first. At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Arshad Nadeem threw a 90.18m to win a gold medal, again in a stacked field. That mark also set a new CWG record.

Nadeem thus became the first athlete from Pakistan to win javelin gold at the Commonwealth Games. It was also the first athletics medal at the CWG for Pakistan in 56 years.

A year later, Arshad Nadeem went toe to toe against Neeraj Chopra in the final of the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest and won a silver medal. The Indian managed 88.17m while the Pakistani ace logged 87.82m. Nevertheless, it was a historic medal, Pakistan’s first at the World Athletics Championships.

Arshad Nadeem was born on January 2, 1997, in Khanewal, Pakistan. He is the third oldest among eight siblings. He grew up playing cricket in the age group at the state level and pursued his education at Punjab College Mian Channu.

Nadeem took up the javelin throw in 2015 after pursuing shot put and discus throw. However, his journey in the sport was tough. His achievements came despite the lack of adequate state-of-the-art grounds or training facilities. Nevertheless, he says giving up cricket was the best thing that happened to him.

In 2016, he received a scholarship from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that allowed him to train for eight months at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Mauritius. He has grown leaps and bounds since.

Nadeem won bronze medals at the 2016 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Ho Chi Minh City and the South Asian Games in Guwahati, announcing himself on the international stage.

He then bagged another bronze at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and won the South Asian Games title in 2019.

Arshad Nadeem made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and became the first athlete from Pakistan to qualify for an Olympic final in track and field. He finished fifth with a throw of 84.62m.

Due to the little support he received in Pakistan, he was granted funding from the Olympic Solidarity scholarship programme. On the back of it, Nadeem chose to prepare for Paris 2024 in South Africa.

His career may have a list of accolades but it has also been plagued by injuries. He suffered a back injury at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast but continued to compete and finished eighth in the javelin final.

He underwent surgeries for previous nagging elbow and knee injuries in 2021 and early 2022 and returned to the international stage after almost a year of rehabilitation.

He marked his return at the 2022 World Championships, where he finished fifth with a competitive 86.16m. In 2023, a left knee injury at the National Games forced him to miss the Asian Championships in Bangkok and the Asian Games.

Arshad Nadeem is married. His wife Ayesha and him have two children – a son and a daughter.