Like Zeus with a spear of lightning, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem cracked open the men’s javelin competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with one mighty blow, leaving his competitors shaken on Thursday (8).
Without warning, in the second round of competition, 27-year-old Nadeem unleashed a thunderbolt, a 92.97m monster of a throw, which broke the Olympic record and stunned the 11 other men in the final, including the defending champion and world champion Neeraj Chopra.
It was the biggest throw in the world for more than two years and lifted Nadeem to No.6 on the all-time list.
That his opponents were thunderstruck was obvious as the rest of the event unfolded.
Chopra responded initially with his best throw of the competition, 89.45m, which lifted him into second position, but he fouled his next four throws trying desperately to find something extra which would put him on terms with his sub-continental rival.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters, the only man in the field to have a bigger throw to his name (93.07m in 2022), tried valiantly to respond to the challenge, producing an 88.54m effort in the fourth round that lifted him into the bronze medal position, slipping past Czechia’s regular medal-winner Jakub Vadlejch (88.50m).
In all, six men threw over 87 metres, including 2015 world champion Julius Yego (87.72m) and German challenger Julian Weber (87.40m), but none could breach the 90-metre barrier.
To underline his superiority, Nadeem returned in the final round to launch the spear 91.79m, the second best performance of his career.
The Pakistani claimed not only his country’s first Olympic medal and first Olympic gold medal in athletics, but also its first medal in any sport for 32 years.
Nadeem said he was not surprised by his form in Paris.
“I was expecting and hoping to even go further but ultimately, I am content with 92.97m as it allowed me to win the gold,” he explained. “But I will continue working harder to extend this throw to over 95 metres.”
Chopra said his preparation was affected by a groin injury, but he never gave up hope that he might match his rival.
“Today’s competition was really great. Arshad threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country,” he said. “Second throw I believed in myself to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run up is not so good, you can’t go very far.”
Peters was delighted to earn the bronze medal.
“Finally, finally. I’ve been dreaming about this since I saw Keshorn Walcott win gold in 2012,” he said. “From that moment I decided I was going to work my hardest to get an Olympic medal.”
The third of eight siblings from a humble background in Pakistan’s Punjab region, Nadeem’s sporting talent initially emerged in cricket, a national obsession, where he was a promising fast bowler. However, his father was not a cricket fan and advised him to use his fast arm for a different purpose, directing him towards an athletics club, where his throwing talents were immediately recognised.
Despite being shaded by his Indian rival Chopra in major competition in recent years, Nadeem has been quietly building a record that made him a contender at the highest level.
He finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympic Games before breaking through to claim his first major title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he duelled with Peters for the gold medal before unleashing his first 90-metre throw to settle the contest.
He continued to climb the ranks last year, coming back from elbow surgery to claim his first global medal, silver behind Chopra, at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
A knee injury initially hindered his preparation for the Paris Games, but after surgery in February in the United Kingdom, he steadily worked his way back into good form.
His best throw of the year, before tonight’s final, was his 86.59m throw in qualifying in Paris, but it clearly gave him enough confidence to attack the runway in the final and grab his first global title.
Pakistan and India are often at odds as neighbours, but Nadeem and Chopra do not carry any animosity on to the athletics track.
“Neeraj and I are on very good terms,” Nadeem told Al Jazeera last month. “Whenever we are abroad in training or an event, we always talk to each other and stay in touch, but when it comes to competition, then you only think of yourself. Look, India is our neighbour. People on both sides say a lot of things about each other’s country, but this is what sports teaches us – to be friendly and that we don’t have to focus on our differences.”
Between them they have elevated their two countries to the forefront of javelin competition in recent years. Chopra was the first Indian to win an Olympic athletics gold medal in Tokyo, and Nadeem has now done the same for Pakistan in Paris.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
| MEN’S JAVELIN MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Arshad Nadeem (PAK) | 92.97m OR |
| 🥈 | Neeraj Chopra (IND) | 89.45m SB |
| 🥉 | Anderson Peters (GRN) | 88.54m |
| Full results | ||
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