We started this year’s Independence Day celebrations early, on August 8th, when Arshad Nadeem won the Olympic medal in men’s javelin throw final in Paris, bringing home the first gold medal in an Olympic track and field event. He also ended our medal draught at Olympics — winning an Olympic medal for Pakistan after 32 years and a gold medal after 40 years!

No tribute is enough for the incredible feat of Arshad, who had mainly his talent and determination to depend upon. To acknowledge the rise and achievements of this national hero, here is a short summery of his athletic achievements so far.

Wishing to see him set more records in the future and win more medals. Thank you Arshad Nadeem, for being an inspiration to youngsters who have almost given up on sports.

Date of birth: January 2nd, 1997, in Mian Channu, Punjab.

Height: 6 foot 3 inches

Awards

2016: Received a scholarship from World Athletics to train at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Mauritius.

February 2016: He won the bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati, India, setting a national record and his personal best at 78.33m.

June 2016: He won the bronze medal at the 17th Asian Junior Athletics Championship, held in Ho Chi Minh City.

May 2017: Nadeem won a bronze medal, with a throw of 76.33m, at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku.

April 2018: Arshad set a new personal best record of 80.45m in the qualification round of the Commonwealth Games, held in Gold Coast, Australia, and finished eighth.

August 2018: He won a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he set a new personal best and national record of 80.75m.

2019: At the World Athletics Championships Doha, Qatar, Nadeem achieved a new personal best and national record of 81.52m.

November 2019: Nadeem broke the national record again when he recorded a 83.65m throw to win gold for WAPDA at the 33rd National Games in Peshawar.

December 2019: He won a gold medal with an 86.29m record throw, at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal.

2020 Tokyo Olympics: Nadeem made his debut at the Olympics, representing Pakistan at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021. He became the first Pakistani to qualify for the final of any Olympic track and field event. He finished fifth in the men’s javelin throw with a throw of 84.62m.

July 2022: Nadeem participated in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, US, as the sole representative from Pakistan. He finished fifth in the final with a throw of 86.16m.

August 08, 2024: Won gold medal in javelin throw at Paris 2024 with an Olympic record of 92.97m. The mark is also an Asian record, and the sixth-longest throw ever.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 17th, 2024