From Guwahati to Paris: Arshad Nadeem’s golden leap

Guwahati, August 7: Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem attracted all the love and praise from not only his country but India too as he set a new Olympic record throw of 92.97 m at the Stade de France clinching his maiden gold medal at the tournament.

With this benchmark, Arshad now secures the sixth place in the all-time list of best throws, with Czech Republic’s Jan Zelezny holding the World Record at 98.48 metres in 1996.

This is not the first time Nadeem created an Olympic history as he was the first Pakistani athlete to qualify for an Olympic athletics final at Tokyo Olympics, however, he failed to secure a medal.

Guwahati connection:

Arshad Nadeem’s athletic career soared from South Asian Games held in Guwahati, India, in 2016 when he faced Neeraj Chopra as his competitor. The Pakistani athlete bagged bronze medal, setting a national record of 78.3 metres.

Addressing the press after his Olympic win, Nadeem said, “My international career started with South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati where I competed against Neeraj Chopra. I broke the national record of my country in this tournament, motivating myself to work harder to reach greater heights.”

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra congratulated Nadeem admitting it was his first-ever defeat to the Pakistani athlete in the competition in the last eight years.

Speaking to the media, Chopra said, “I have been competing against Arshad since 2016, but this the first time I lost to him. But credit where credit is due, Arshad has worked really hard, and he was better than I was at night. Congratulations to him.”

Neeraj Chopra vs Arshad Nadeem: head-to-head record