Arshad Nadeem ended Pakistan’s long Olympic drought in spectacular fashion on Thursday by winning the men’s javelin final at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters. This achievement marks Pakistan’s first medal since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the first gold since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Nadeem is also Pakistan’s first-ever individual gold medalist and the first individual to win a medal since Hussain Shah’s bronze in 1988. He is the first Pakistani finalist in a track and field event.
Nadeem set the Olympic Record with his second throw, putting immense pressure on his competitors. India’s Neeraj Chopra took the silver with a season-best 89.45 meters, while Nadeem secured his second-best throw of 91.79 meters on his final attempt. The previous Olympic record of 90.57 meters, set by Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen in 2008, was shattered.
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nadeem finished fifth, while Chopra won the gold. Pakistan’s Olympic journey began in the 1948 London Games, with the hockey team’s silver in 1956 marking the nation’s first medal. The hockey team last won gold in 1984 and bronze in 1992. Hussain Shah’s 1988 bronze in middleweight boxing was Pakistan’s last individual medal before Nadeem’s historic win.
