Arshad Nadeem Reveals Broken Promises by Pakistan
A year since becoming the first Olympic gold winner in athletics for Pakistan, Arshad Nadeem has complained of broken promises made after his historic javelin throw victory in the Paris Games.
Nadeem beat India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra with a record-breaking 92.97m throw that shattered the Olympic record set by Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen in 2008.
After winning the gold medal, the Pakistan government and other state institutions had announced various things, such as cash awards, plots of land, and other rewards. But now Nadeem has come forward to say that not all of those promises were fulfilled.
"Among all the prize announcements made to me, all the plot announcements were not true, which I didn't get. Other than that, I have got all the cash prizes which were announced," he said in Geo TV before his UK visit for hamstring surgery.
In spite of the absence of institutional support in the run-up to the Olympics, Nadeem continues to stay committed to his sporting career and training young javelin throwers in Pakistan. "My whole concentration is upon myself, but other than that, we train any young person who approaches us to provide them with training, and this training is imparted by my coach Salman Butt," he further said.
Now, supporters can look forward to yet another monumental confrontation between Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra. Nadeem will reportedly compete at the Silesia Diamond League on August 16 if he is able to recover in time after the surgery, which will be their first confrontation since Paris.
Though Chopra, 27, has been busy on the world circuit racing in four Diamond League events and competitions in Ostrava and Chorzow, he also shattered the eagerly awaited 90m mark with a strong throw in Doha on May 16. He recently won gold at the NC Classic in Bengaluru on July 5, a meet that he also organized.
Nadeem, 28, on the other hand, had a selective season, preferring to focus on big tournaments. He made an appearance just once in 2024 prior to the Olympics, claiming gold at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, with a throw of 86.40m. Although he had been invited by Chopra to take part in the initial NC Classic event on May 24, he had to miss out as there was a conflict of schedules with the Asian Championships.
The competition was subsequently postponed following tensions following the Pahalgam terror attack and was rearranged for July.
As the javelin giants line up for a possible rematch in Poland, enthusiasts are waiting for yet another thrilling encounter between two sport figures who keep testing the boundaries of the sport at the global level.
