Pakistanis are celebrating their first Olympic gold medal in decades after Arshad Nadeem won gold in javelin on Thursday night. Nadeem set a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 meters, beating the previous record of 90.57 meters set by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in 2008. He also defeated Neeraj Chopra of India, the Tokyo Olympic champion, who threw 89.45 meters and won silver.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his pride on X, saying, “Bravo Arshad, History made! You’ve made the whole nation proud young man.”
Nadeem’s mother, Razia Parveen, watched the event from their home in Mian Channu, a city in eastern Punjab province. She held a Quran and prayed throughout the competition. When the victory was announced on Pakistani TV, the family celebrated by bowing their heads and hugging each other. Friends and relatives visited their home the next day, bringing sweets to celebrate.
Parveen said, “I am grateful to Allah for blessing my son with such a great honor. I always believed in him and knew he would win the gold medal.”
Before this win, Pakistan’s last gold medal was in men’s field hockey at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The last medal of any kind was a bronze in field hockey at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
