Arshad Nadeem gained gold in the Olympic men’s javelin on Thursday, beating defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India to clinch Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in athletics.
Nadeem threw his arms up in celebration after breaking the Olympic record on his second throw with a spectacular 92.97 metres that put him sixth on the all-time list.
“When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah (God willing),” Nadeem said.
He knelt down and kissed the ground after Chopra’s unsuccessful last attempt sealed his victory. The Pakistani finished fifth in Tokyo, but improved to take silver at last year’s world championships.
Chopra, the strongest by far in qualifying and favourite to retain his title, struggled. His throw of 89.45, which won him the silver medal, was his only valid effort as he fouled on his five other attempts.
“I’m not that happy with my performance today and also my technique and runway was not that good,” said Chopra, who has struggled with a groin injury.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters grabbed bronze with 88.54, a moment of redemption for the twice world champion who failed to make the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Peters hurled the javelin 88.54m on his fourth effort to knock Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo, into fourth place.
Nadeem, who related his Olympic clash with Chopra to the two nations’ rivalry in cricket, has previously said it is challenging being a non-cricket athlete in Pakistan as resources and facilities for his sport are scarce.
But if Chopra’s huge following in India since winning Olympic gold is anything to go by, Nadeem’s performance on Thursday could change that.
Chopra, who has more than nine million Instagram followers, has had a huge impact in raising the profile of athletics in India, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said on Thursday.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after Chopra’s silver win: “Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success.”
Peters, in the meantime, said he felt his Caribbean nation’s support.
“The entire population, 120,000 people are glued to their TV right now. Celebrating, cheering,” he said.
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