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Underfunded Pakistani athlete's Olympic gold spurs online tributes

Arshad Nadeem is being heralded as a one-of-a-kind inspiration to his nation, but the win comes with bitter undertones
Gold medallist Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan celebrates his victory at Men's Javelin throw final at Paris Olympics, on 8 August 2024 (Stephanie Lecoq/Reuters)
By Pauline Ertel
Published date: 9 August 2024 20:52 BST | Last update: 1 month 1 week ago

Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem won an Olympic gold medal and set a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97m at the Paris Stade de France on Thursday night. 

By winning the men's javelin final, Nadeem became Pakistan's first track and field athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. In 1992 in Barcelona, the Pakistani team won a bronze medal in men’s hockey and its last gold medal before that was in 1984 in field hockey.

His throw also surpassed the 16-year-old Olympic record of 90.57m by 2.40m. 

Nadeem, who quit cricket to pick up the javelin, also holds the honour of being the first ­Pakistani to qualify for the final of any track and field event in the history of the Olympics. 

His success on Thursday night caused an outpour of accolades and praise, since in addition to his athletic prowess and hard work, Nadeem's story is marred with far more disadvantageous conditions than his fellow athletes at the games. 

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From rags to riches

The 27-year-old from the city of Mian Channu in the Khanewal district was the only one among the seven total Pakistani athletes to qualify for the finals. Hailing from a modest background, his father is a retired construction worker and he is the third oldest of seven siblings. 

“It would be a lucky day for the family if we ate anything more than lentils or vegetables,” Nadeem's older brother, Shahid Azeem, told Aljazeera in an interview.

In the social media posts that poured in after his victory, online users were quick to point out how special Nadeem's victory is. 

In a post on X, a user thanked Nadeem for bringing some "joy and self belief to a society deeply starved of both". Another called Nadeem a symbol of hope and inspiration. 

In another congratulatory post, a user referred to an incident earlier this year when Nadeem launched a plea for donations for a new javelin, since the one he had been using since 2015 was damaged.

Neeraj Chopra, India's javelin champion and silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, who enjoys a large online fanbase, had supported the call in a display of cross-border camaraderie. 

While the usual training locations for Olympic athletes are state-of-the-art facilities using top-notch equipment, Nadeem was not granted such luxuries. Due to the lack of standard training facilities in Pakistan, Nadeem trained in his backyard. His plane ticket to Paris was sponsored by the Pakistani government. 

Several users, however, also pointed out the double standards, casting light on the fact that while people were quick to celebrate his victory, his calls for support were met with less enthusiasm. 

"All the celebrities, PM & people are owning that gold medal but no one was there [for] him when he needed support," a user on X tweeted. 

Sports in Pakistan 

Users also took the opportunity to highlight some of the more shadowy sides of Pakistan's sporting scene, including nepotism and self-serving interests, chronic underfunding of any sports other than the country's most popular sport, cricket, and corruption at the hands of elites.

One user posted a video of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and another man cheering while Nadeem's victory is screened on the TV with the caption: "A man fighting on raw talent to achieve the impossible. Another man in power, who has done nothing, being told: “Sir, aapka vision hai.” (transl: Sir, this is your vision) 

Until the late 2000s, Pakistan would normally send a team of at least 20-30 members to compete in the Olympics. This year, only seven athletes competed. This is despite the fact that 64 percent of Pakistan's population is under the age of 30 in a country of over 200 million people.

"A large proportion of Pakistan’s population is of prime sporting age, but this figure points towards youth having little to no sports opportunities," journalist Humaira Saeed wrote in a recent opinion article. 

Saeed says that constant power grabs, political upheaval and instability are factors contributing to a lack of steady and continuous delivery in the economic, education or healthcare sectors, let alone the environment or sports.

"The Pakistani government and their priorities are laid bare for all to see at the Paris Olympics. The government should be ashamed and quickly make changes if it is to gain any respect on the international stage," Saeed said.

In one post, a user commented that Nadeem's win should spur the government into re-aligning its sporting priorities.

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