In these circumstances when bad news is coming from all sides in the country and the situation has become so critical that the nation is in despair regarding the future of the country. In such a situation, Arshad Nadeem Paris Olympics gold medal is nothing less than a breath of fresh air for the nation. Arshad Nadeem’s victory is the story of decades of hard work and manly struggle with poverty.
His winning the gold medal is like an art film set in a rural area. Arshad Nadeem has become a symbol for victory in a country where facilities for outdoor sports are almost non-existent.
The lack of sports facilities in the country can be estimated from the fact that till six months ago, Arshad Nadeem did not even have a javelin of international standard but through his hard work and dedication, he has done something that the nation is proud of.
It may be still not believed that Pakistan can win a gold medal in any sport other than hockey. Even when Arshad Nadeem set a world record of 92.97 meters after 118 years in Olympic history in his second throw on this occasion, most of Pakistan’s TV channels did not have experts to comment on this interesting situation live, who could tell the nation that until someone throws longer than Arshad Nadeem, till that Pakistan would be at the first positon.
Look at the luck of Pakistan that the throw of the first stage proved to be the precursor of victory for it and has won the gold medal after forty years and after thirty two years it has made a place on the victory stand in the Olympics.
On this occasion Pakistan’s pride Arshad Nadeem and the whole nation are not bursting with happiness. According to media reports, Pakistani athlete Javelin Thrower Arshad Nadeem who won the first gold medal for Pakistan in Paris Olympics after 40 years, has said that “today is my day. Yes, I could have thrown farther than that” Speaking after winning the first individual gold medal as a Pakistani athlete at the javelin throw events, Arshad Nadeem said “I was in rhythm and was hopeful of winning the gold medal” we will celebrate August 14 with the gold medal.
He said that he hoped that he would do something today, he was hopeful that he could win the gold medal with the distance he threw. Arshad Nadeem said that the Pakistan Olympic Association and his coach helped him a lot he is grateful to coach Usman Butt for working hard.
The national athlete said that I thank Allah, parents and the nation for this great achievement. I worked hard in the Tokyo Olympics but could not win a medal. I made the Olympics record by throwing 92.97, I can throw even better than that.
On the other hand, Arshad Nadeem’s brother has said while talking to media that Arshad Nadeem threw the record despite less resources. He said that he also appealed to the government. Arshad Nadeem’s brother said that he also congratulates Neeraj Chopra and his family. The eyes of the nation were on Arshad Nadeem, who was the only hope for Pakistan to win a medal in the Olympics after 32 years.
It should be remembered that the last time Pakistan stepped on the Olympic medal podium was on August 8, 1992 when the national hockey team defeated the Netherlands in the Barcelona Olympics won the bronze medal by four goals to three while Pakistan last won a gold medal at the Olympics in 1984 which was won by the hockey team Athletes.
The whole nation is happy with his victory and pays tribute to him for his achievements, but we must not forget the difficulties Arshad Nadeem faced to reach here, especially the lack of resources and facilities.
Our federal and provincial sports ministries and the Olympics Association need to think about it so that in the future hockey is not the only hope but we can win in all indoor and outdoor sports. So attention should also be given to javelin, hockey, swimming, boating, badminton, lawn tennis, pole vault, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, shooting, horse riding and other sports. Above all the nursery of all these is school sports that should be revive and we needs hard work at government’s high and primary schools level to promote our sports, so that the hidden diamonds like Arshad Nadeem can be carved out from these children. As long as we do not boost our other sports, we will continue to send teams consisting of six and seven players, which is not worthy of a country with a population of 25 million.
