25-year-old Arshad Nadeem puffed his cheeks this Thursday and sent his javelin through the World Athletics Championship. Sharing his unrelenting determination to soar in the sky, Samina Baig became the first Pakistani woman to scale one of the most dangerous summits, K2. Had it been any other country, the larger-than-life successes–deemed more phenomenal in the light of their dire circumstances–would have been plastered across every wall. And while the media outlets are doing a fine job reminding both the state and the nation that we have scratched a new set of heroes in our back alley, appreciation enough cannot do the trick. We have had countless examples from both India and China where dedicated efforts to project the marvels of sportsmen and sportswomen as a beloved window into the inner souls have shown tremendous results. Despite abject poverty, our estranged neighbour insists on owning its icons as fascinating ambassadors; providing them with government jobs, stipends and state-of-the-art facilities. China recognised the potential to rule all fields of sports very early on and has now become a giant by bagging the maximum number of gold medals in every Olympics season. To our great misfortune, Pakistan was neither interested in following their footsteps nor cherishing its homegrown share of raw, astounding talent. Far from winning top prizes, our hockey, squash and tennis teams’ performances do not make it to special mentions. The less said the better about athletics, boxing and chess in a country that only believes in running after the commercial endeavours of the cricketing world. Sadly, cutting ribbons to stadiums and bagging franchises for the premier league cannot dictate the victory spell for all other games. It is high time the authorities realise what a great asset soft diplomacy is and roll up its sleeves to ensure the earmarked funds actually translate into high rankings. May it be fixing scandals, drug rackets or dirty collusions, Pakistani sports have for long been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Let the recent lifting of FIFA suspension stop the widespread rot and kick the ball alive again. *