Pakistan’s U-turn on Arshad Nadeem: From no money for tickets to 150mm cash

Pakistan have made a stunning U-turn on Arshad Nadeem. He was all by himself, left with very little support and practice facilities. He even arranged for his travel to the Tokyo Games three years ago and returned fifth in the men’s javelin final – the first from Pakistan to do so at the Games. His towering achievements at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, where he took the gold medal by becoming the first Asian to breach the 90m mark and then the historic silver at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, were just about enough for Pakistan government to sponsor his air tickets for Paris Olympics 2024. Nadeem was the only Pakistan athlete who got his travel sponsored by the government for this year’s Games.
Cut to present. Things are a bit different for Arshad Nadeem now. He is the Olympic champion – the first Pakistani to win an individual medal in athletics, let alone a gold. He achieved this with an Olympic Record throw of 92.97m to beat defending champion India’s Neeraj Chopra, who had to be satisfied by the silver medal.
Arshad Nadeem’s historic medal—Pakistan’s first since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics—woke a few from their sleep. The result? A splurge of cash rewards and accolades.
Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced a cash award of (Pakistan) rupees 100 million for Nadeem. Similarly, the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh government announced rupees 50 million for the athlete while the Sukkur city mayor also announced a ‘gold crown’ for him.
Nawaz also said a sports city named after the athlete would be built in his hometown of Khanewal in Punjab province.
Nadeem faced financial woes as well as facilities that all non-cricket playing athletes face in the country.
Even after winning a Commonwealth Games gold and World Championship silver in 2022 and 2023, Arshad had to plead for a new javelin before the Paris Olympics as his old one had worn out after years of use.
Perhaps this is why Arshad’s first message to his parents from Paris on Thursday is that he is now determined to build a proper academy for athletes in or near his village.
Two sports facilities, one in Karachi and another in Sukkur cities of Sindh will also be named after Arshad Nadeem.
Throughout the day, the Pakistani media was running congratulatory messages from President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Director General military media wing (ISPR), all provincial chief ministers and ministers for Nadeem’s “exceptional achievement”.
Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan also congratulated Nadeem on his X account.
“Congratulations to Pakistan’s Olympic flag bearer Arshad Nadeem for an absolute brilliant javelin performance winning a gold medal for Pakistan. His persistence & perseverance has done him & the nation proud. It is the first time any Pakistani has won an individual gold for athletics in the Olympics. He is an inspiration for our younger generation,” Khan said.
Before Nadeem’s victory, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal in the Olympics.
Before this, only two Pakistani athletes had won individual medals of any colour — Mohammad Bashir’s wrestling bronze in 1960 and Hussain Shah’s boxing bronze in 1988.