Arshad Nadeem, on Sunday, August 7, won the gold medal for Pakistan in the men’s javelin throw final of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
The 25-year-fifth old’s attempt saw him throw 90.18 metres, which was enough to earn him a medal. It ended up being his personal best as well.
Nadeem left behind Grenada’s Anderson Peters and Kenya’s Julius Yego, who had the best throws of 88.64 metres and 85.70 metres respectively.
Arshad has become the first Pakistani to win a javelin gold in the history of the event.
In addition to that, he broke the 90-meter mark first for a South Asian. Nadeem attracted praises from his father, a mason by trade, after winning the gold.
Muhammad Ashraf, Arshad’s father, made sure that his son had the right environment and diet in order to become a world-beater.
“I used to earn 400-500 per day on contract labour at that time and it was tough to manage things for all the children. But I made sure that Nadeem would get milk and ghee to become a well built youth,” Nadeem’s father was quoted as saying.
“I did not want him to work like me and I always wanted him to lead a good life, which he has ensured with his performances,” the proud father expressed.
When Arshad participated in the sports quota trials for the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority, Syed Hussian Bukhari, a five-time Pakistan national champion, claimed he was impressed with Arshad’s abilities (WAPDA).
“When I first saw Arshad, I was impressed by his strong arms at such a young age and saw a spark in him. Even though he threw 55m in the trials, I was sure that if coached in a proper set up, he would improve only. Joining the hostel meant that he got a good diet,” he said.
“It also improved his training technique. Within two months he crossed 60 m and four months later, at the age of 18 years, he crossed 70 m with a throw of 70.46 m in the Pakistan National Championship in 2015,” Bukhari added.