After Pakistani javelin athlete Arshad Nadeem hurtled his way into the Olympic history books, his country threw him welcome celebrations fit for a king.
Arshad Nadeem, 27, took the top spot in javelin last week in the Paris Games, becoming the first Pakistani to win an individual gold medal in the country’s history. Thousands of supporters showed up at the airport for the return of the athlete, who once trained with javelins he fashioned out of eucalyptus branches. On Sunday, he was greeted in Lahore with a water cannon salute and was adorned with garlands, Reuters reported.
Nadeem reunited with his family members before boarding a double-decker bus escorted by police, The Express Tribune reported. He eventually arrived at his rural village of Mian Channu, where proud friends, neighbors and fans had watched his performance from a projector set up on the back of a truck. A sports facility is slated to be built and named after the gold medalist in his hometown, according to the Olympics website.
“I want to thank the entire nation, especially Mian Channu, for showing me so much love,” he told the crowd.
Nadeem beat out defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India by throwing a new Olympic record of 92.97 meters. Nadeem’s was Pakistan’s first gold medal since its field hockey team took the top spot at the 1984 games in Los Angeles, and its only medal in 32 years since field hockey nabbed bronze in 1992 at the Barcelona Games.
Nadeem, a father of two, thanked his country, parents, his coach Salman Iqbal Butt and his orthopedic surgeon, Ali Sher Bajwa. He dedicated the win to Pakistan’s independence day that falls on Wednesday.
“This Gold medal is a gift from me to the entire nation on the occasion of Independence Day,” Nadeem, who served as his country’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony, wrote on social media site X.
Lacking the financial support and institutional investment that many other athletes often receive in their sport, Nadeem’s journey to Olympic gold took a village — literally.
“People have no idea how Arshad got to this place today,” Nadeem’s father, Muhammad Ashraf, said, according to The Times of India. “How his fellow villagers and relatives used to donate money so that he could travel to other cities for his training and events in his early days.”
In addition to local support, the athlete’s brother, Shahid Nadeem, told Reuters that without state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, the family often had to get creative so that the Olympian could train.
“Initially, we improvised homemade javelins by using long eucalyptus branches with iron tips on their ends. The fields in our village served as our training ground,” he told the outlet. “We developed our own weight training apparatus by using iron rods, canisters of oil and concrete.”
Ahead of the Olympics, Nadeem revealed he had been training with the same old, broken javelin for years, and successfully appealed to the Pakistani government for help securing new equipment. Even his Indian rival, Chopra, got involved, speaking out to help Nadeem.
“Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all,” Chopra said, according to The Economic Times. “Arshad is a top javelin thrower, and I believe that the javelin makers will be more than happy to sponsor him and provide what he needs.”
Nadeem, who also had to battle injuries along the way, has had a “Zen-like” mentality, that’s allowed him to climb the ranks of the sport despite financial and physical challenges, his loved ones say.
“He is focused, and no matter the setback, he does not let it linger. This is one of the most incredible things about Nadeem, and you cannot really teach it either,” his coach told Al-Jazeera.
Even so, Nadeem has been outspoken about the need for more investment in sports like his.
“I’ve reached where I have despite having no access to state-of-art grounds or training facilities. But in this day and age, you have to provide world class facilities to develop athletes as the competition is getting tougher and tougher,” he told the Indian Express. “You can’t produce another Arshad without giving them those facilities.”
Pakistanis, including the former prime minister Imran Khan, have been marveling at Nadeem’s feats given the uphill climb he has had to endure over the years.
In addition to bringing pride to his country, Nadeem’s competition with Chopra has drawn more attention to the pair’s sportsmanship and mutual respect amid longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan. Many social media users have uplifted the pair as role models of kindness and friendly competition.
“Neeraj and I are on very good terms. Whenever we are abroad in training or an event, we always talk to each other and stay in touch, but when it comes to competition, then you only think of yourself,” Nadeem told Al-Jazeera. “Look, India is our neighbour. People on both sides say a lot of things about each other’s country, but this is what sports teaches us — to be friendly and that we don’t have to focus on our differences.”