Arshad Nadeem ends Pakistan’s 32-year drought with Olympic gold medal

Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan’s javelin thrower, ended the country’s 32-year medal drought in the Olympics after bagging a gold medal with the longest throw of 92.97 meters in the javelin final at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Arshad Nadeem became the first-ever individual gold medalist in the Olympics for Pakistan.

In the first stage, the star javelin player failed to make a mark in his first attempt, however, he made a remarkable recovery with 92.97m in his second attempt, a new Olympic record.

He surpassed Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen, who threw farthest at 90.57 during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Nadeem went on to deliver an 88.72-meter throw in his third attempt.

India’s Neeraj Chopra also failed to make a mark in his first attempt, however, he recovered with an 89.45m throw to bag a silver medal. His third attempt was also ruled out.

Anderson Peters of Grenada clinched bronze medal with his longest throw of 88.54 m.

Arshad Nadeem qualified in the final round of the Javelin throw on Tuesday with an 86.59-meter throw in his first attempt during the qualification round.

The javelin ace became Pakistan’s only hope for a medal at the Paris Olympics following the disqualification of six out of the seven athletes from their respective events.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan last won a medal at Olympics in 1992, 32 years ago when the country’s national hockey team secured the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics.

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