Paris Olympics 2024: Arshad Nadeem (L) and Neeraj Chopra© X (Twitter)
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem created history by becoming the first athlete from his country to win an Olympic gold medal. The 27-year-old broke the men's javelin Olympic record with his 92.97m attempt to beat India's Neeraj Chopra to the gold. It was a massive moment. This was the first time in the history of the Olympics that Asian athletes claimed the top two podium positions but the connection between Nadeem and Neeraj goes way back. Both of them have been competing against each other for quite some time and at the World Championships 2023. it was Neeraj who claimed the gold with Nadeem coming second. Over the years, both of them have expressed their appreciation for each other and Neeraj even voiced his support for Nadeem when he needed a new javelin for practice.
Nadeem won the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medal with a 90.18m throw but his preparations for the Olympics were hampered as he did not have an international standard javelin. He said that he has been "using one for the past seven to eight years" and asked for help from the government.
"It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics," Nadeem said.
"When I started off in 2015, competing in international events I got this javelin...for an international athlete aiming to win a medal in the Olympic Games, you need proper equipment and training facilities," the athlete from Pakistan added.
Neeraj extended his support for Nadeem after hearing about his concerns and urged the Pakistan government, javelin makers and other sponsors to support him in his journey.
"It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin. Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all," Neeraj told SAI Media in an interaction.
"It can't be that he (Arshad) doesn't have the means to buy a javelin. He is a champion and must be doing some brand endorsements. I reckon he has earned a bit of money too. But having said that, his government can look at Arshad's needs and support him just like how my government is doing so."
"Additionally, Arshad is a top javelin thrower and I believe that the javelin makers will be more than happy to sponsor him and provide what he wants. This is a piece of advice from my side," he added.