PARIS– Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan broke the Olympic record with a massive 92.97m throw in the Javelin final on Thursday, winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Arshad Nadeem becomes Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medalist. Arshad Nadeem beat the previous Olympic record of 90.57, achieved by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
To win silver, Neeraj Chopra threw 89.45 meters, a season best. Grenada’s Anderson Peters won bronze with a throw of 88.54m.
Arshad Nadeem crossed the 90-metre mark twice. One was 92.97m (second attempt), while the other was 91.79m (sixth and final attempt).
Pakistan’s last appearance on the Olympic medal podium occurred on August 8, 1992, when the national hockey team defeated the Netherlands 4-3 to win bronze in the Barcelona Olympics. This is Pakistan’s first Olympic gold medal in any discipline in almost 40 years.
Today, exactly 32 years later, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem made history by capturing the gold medal in javelin throw.
Earlier, Arshad Nadeem failed to make his first toss. Julian Weber of Germany also missed his first throw.
Finland’s Lassi made his first throw from 78.81 meters, whereas India’s Neeraj Chopra’s first throw was invalid. Oliver Helander of Finland threw 80.92 meters on his first attempt.
Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic threw for 84.52 meters on his second attempt.
Following him, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem made his second throw, reaching 92.97 meters and setting a new Olympic record.
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway set the previous Olympic record of 90.57 meters in Beijing in 2008.
Julian Weber of Germany made his second throw from 87.33 meters, while Neeraj Chopra of India threw from 89.45 meters.
Arshad Nadeem’s third throw was 88.72 meters, and his fourth and fifth throws were 79.40 and 84.87 meters, respectively. In his final effort, Arshad Nadeem threw the javelin 91.79 metres.
Nadeem won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also earned a bronze medal in the 2018 Asian Games. Nadeem finished fifth at the previous Olympics, with the greatest attempt of 84.62m.
Arshad Nadeem was largely regarded as Pakistan’s main medal prospect at the Olympic Games, and his tremendous throw in the final secured a historic gold medal.
Prior to Arshad’s amazing achievement, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal in the Olympics.
Pakistan’s previous three gold medals came in field hockey, with the team winning in 1960, 1968, and 1984.
Prior to Thursday, only two Pakistani athletes had won individual medals of any colour: a wrestling bronze in 1960 and a boxing bronze in 1988.
Since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Pakistan has not won a single medal.
“When I threw the javelin, I felt it leave my hand and realized it could be an Olympic record,” said the 27-year-old Nadeem.
Nadeem, the 2022 Commonwealth champion who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics and silver medalist at last year’s Budapest global championships, said the outcome was “very important for Pakistan because I have worked very hard over the years for this”.
“My training and hard work have paid off.”
He noted that the rivalry with Chopra “is there, no doubt”.
“The javelin rivalry existed, just like in cricket! People back home in Pakistan and India were excited to watch us compete together.
“There is rivalry in cricket and other sports between the two countries, but it is beneficial for young people in both countries to observe and follow our sport.
“It’s a positive thing for both countries.”
Chopra concurred, saying it was beneficial to both countries and might serve as a motivator to increase participation in athletics, particularly javelin.
Nadeem stated that he had high plans for throwing even further.
“I was expecting to go even further, and I am hoping to go even further,” he remarked after breaking his previous Olympic record by more than two metres.
“I will try harder to even extend my personal best to over 95 metres.”
Chopra was happy with his best throw, but not much else.
“I’m not that happy with my performance today and also my technique and runway was not that good,” he told me.
“Only one throw; the rest I fouled. That second throw, I had faith in myself to think I could throw that far. But in javelin, if your run-up isn’t good, you won’t get very far.
Chopra admitted to not throwing much throughout training due to a groin ailment.
“The last two or three years were not so good. I’m always injured. I worked incredibly hard, but I still need to work on my injuries and technique.
“However, I will work hard in the future. Today’s competition was excellent. Arshad threw quite good. Congratulations to him and his country!”
