Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem made history at the Paris Olympics 2024 by winning the gold medal in the javelin throw final, bringing home Pakistan’s first gold medal in 40 years.
According to Express News, 27-year-old Arshad Nadeem won the gold medal for Pakistan by throwing the javelin 92.97 meters. After achieving this remarkable feat, the determined Arshad Nadeem couldn’t contain his emotions.
Arshad Nadeem broke down after the gold medal win. The tears of joy just shows how much it meant to him.
— Fidato (@tequieremos) August 8, 2024
He celebrated by waving the national flag in the air, then wrapped himself in the flag, and broke down in tears while embracing Athletics Federation Chairman Akram Sahi. The video of this emotional moment has gone viral on social media.
During the final, Arshad Nadeem couldn’t complete his throw on the first attempt but threw 92.97 meters on his second attempt, which is the longest throw in Olympic history so far.
In his third attempt, Arshad Nadeem threw 88.72 meters, 79.40 meters on the fourth, 84.87 meters on the fifth, and 91.79 meters on the sixth attempt.
Previously, the record for the longest throw in the Olympics was held by Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen, who threw 90.57 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Arshad Nadeem broke this 16-year-old record.
Paris Olympics Arshad Nadeem Qualifies for Javelin Throw Final
In the event’s final, 12 athletes competed, including defending champion Neeraj Chopra from India.
Neeraj Chopra qualified for the final with a throw of 89.34 meters, while Arshad Nadeem was ranked fourth with a throw of 86.59 meters. The qualification standard for the final was a throw of 84 meters or being among the top 12 athletes.
Before the final, Arshad Nadeem, in an exclusive conversation with Express, said that he was happy with his performance and hopeful of performing well in the final.
The athletes competing in the final in order were Anderson Peters (Germany) with 88.63 meters, Julian Weber (Germany) with 87.76 meters, Julius Yego (Kenya) with 85.97 meters, Luiz Marenco de Silva (Brazil) with 85.9 meters, Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic) with 85.63 meters, Toni Keränen (Finland) with 85.27 meters, Andrian Mardare (Moldova) with 84.13 meters, Oliver Helander (Finland) with 83.81 meters, Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad and Tobago) with 83.02 meters, and Lassi Etelätalo (Finland) with 82.91 meters.
Previously, Pakistan won its first individual bronze medal in wrestling at the Rome Olympics in 1960, thanks to wrestler Muhammad Bashir, and the second bronze medal was won by boxer Hussain Shah from Lyari, Karachi, in the middleweight category at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Notably, of Pakistan’s 10 Olympic medals, 8 have been won by the national hockey team, including 3 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze medals.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan last won a gold medal in the Olympics in 1984, thanks to the hockey team, and now Arshad Nadeem has brought this honor back to the country.
