8th August 2024, the day when Pakistan’s flag was raised highest at Stade de France and the national anthem was played. That moment sent shivers to every patriot person. All thanks to ARSHAD NADEEM – The national hero of Pakistan who won the gold medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Arshad Nadeem ends Pakistan’s wait of 3 decades and becomes the first individual player to bring the gold medal back home after 1984. The competition was tough but his determination and hard work paved a path for him.
The story starts last month when among all the 7 athletes bound for Paris Olympics 2024 Arshad Nadeem and his coach Salman Fayyaz Butt were found the best candidates to get financial funding from Pakistan’s national sports board. Well because of his previous achievements, everyone has high hopes for him and he proved it also. And then our 27-year-old athlete Arshad Nadeem stepped foot in the Olympics to complete his journey. As in the last Olympics, Arshad Nadeem qualified for the finals but lost his battle for the gold medal to Neeraj Chopra (an Indian javelin player).
After the official beginning of the Paris Olympics 2024, the elimination of the other 6 players left the nation to have hope only from Arshad Nadeem. Arshad Nadeem did not disappoint everyone and qualified for his spot in the final with a massive throw of 86.59 meters. With the qualification marks set at 84 meters, Arshad Nadeem finished third in group B. While Neeraj Chopra the defending gold champion of the 2020 Olympics stands first with a 89.34 m throw on his first attempt.
After the qualifying round, Arshad Chopra wishes Neeraj Chopra the best for the finals.
“It gives me immense joy that there are only two of us from South Asia, myself and Neeraj, who are performing on the world stage along,” he told Olympics.com after his qualification. “I hope that we continue to perform for our respective countries and make the names of our countries shine bright globally.”
He also added that rivalry was only in fields, after that, we will talk about some casual topics discussed among friends and wish each other best of luck for the upcoming game.
And then here comes the final tournament. Arshad Nadeem’s first throw though was a good start but his second throw confirmed a gold medal for him. The javelin at the second throw lands at a distance of 92.97 meters shattering all the previous records. He made history in both the Olympics and Asian records. As an athlete, it was a milestone for him and he accomplished it two times in a single tournament. He summoned the game with his last throw also above 90 meters which is 91.79 meters.
CONCLUSION
The story of Arshad Nadeem will inspire our future generation. Success lies in hard work and determination not in expensive training equipment. Though they are important but not compulsory. If you want to achieve you will thrive in every situation. Also, it gives us the message of keep going till you succeed. He lost at the 2020 Olympics but the comeback in 2024 cleared all the sore history. Arshad Nadeem makes us proud as a nation.
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