From humble beginnings, Pakistan's unlikely champion strikes gold

LAHORE, Pakistan — Arshad Nadeem's home village erupted into rapturous celebrations after he clinched Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics, winning gold in the men's javelin and knocking defending champion Neeraj Chopra of archrival India into second place.

Nadeem's triumph on Thursday in Paris is all the more impressive for a man born and raised in a mud brick house in an impoverished corner of rural Pakistan, who was forced as a youth to train in local wheat fields with homemade javelins.

The news of his victory, which reached Pakistan late at night, thrilled his compatriots, drawing congratulatory messages from the nation's leaders and prompting jubilant dancing and fireworks in his normally sleepy home village of Mian Channu.

"We have not been able to sleep since last night, because relatives, the media, friends, fans and state functionaries are constantly visiting us to congratulate the family," his oldest brother, Shahid Nadeem, said on Friday.

"People from surrounding villages came to watch the tournament here," he said. "We had arranged a big screen. They expressed their joy by chanting, dancing and with fireworks."

Pakistan mostly channels its limited funding for sports into team games such as cricket and hockey.

Nadeem, who compared his Olympic clash with Chopra to the two nations' legendary rivalry in cricket, has previously said it is challenging being a non-cricket athlete in Pakistan, where resources and facilities for his sport are scarce.

But, now, his record-breaking 92.97-meter javelin throw in Paris has earned Pakistan its first Olympic medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games, and its first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

"This gold medal is a gift from me to the entire nation on the occasion of Independence Day (Aug 14)," Nadeem said in a post on social media platform X.

Nadeem, 27, married with two children, comes from a poor family of eight children in the central Pakistani region of Khanewal, where he first began to dream of Olympic greatness.

His district barely had reliable water and electricity supplies, let alone proper sports facilities for him to train.

"Initially, we improvised homemade javelins by using long eucalyptus branches with iron tips on their ends. The fields in our village served as our training ground," his brother Shahid said.

"We developed our own weight training apparatus by using iron rods, canisters of oil and concrete."

The situation improved when Nadeem joined the local power utility Wapda, which had its own sports facilities.

Even so, Nadeem had still been training with substandard javelins just months before the Paris Olympics, until, his mother Razia Parveen explained, a last-minute appeal saw the Pakistani government step in to help.

"The government sponsored javelins and other facilities for him. He brought back three new international standard javelins from South Africa," she said.

"I am very happy for Arshad and Pakistan. I offered prayers to thank God immediately after his victory," she said from their home, which houses a makeshift gym built by Nadeem and his brothers, featuring homemade weight training gear.

And she praised India's silver medal winner.

"I also congratulate Chopra," she said. "I congratulate his mother and his family. Victory and defeat are just by fate."

Shahid Nadeem said that all four brothers are sportsmen.

"My two younger brothers and me abandoned our passion and started jobs to support the family," he added.

However, Nadeem's decision to stick with his passion seems set to change the family's fortunes.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Nadeem's native Punjab province, announced a cash prize of 100 million Pakistani rupees ($359,195) as a reward for what she said was his "hard work".

Nadeem arrived to a water canon salute and chants from thousands of supporters as he brought Pakistan's first Olympic medal home early on Sunday. Nadeem was met by his family, including his father who placed a garland around his neck to the sound of thousands chanting: "Long live Arshad Nadeem! Long live Pakistan!", as he touched down in the eastern city of Lahore.

President Asif Ali Zardari announced on Saturday that Arshad Nadeem would be awarded Pakistan's second-highest civilian award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, for his achievement.

Agencies