“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
This is an apt saying for Pakistan’s newest sporting hero Nadeem Arshad. On Thursday, Nadeem overcame all the hurdles and problems, hurling his javelin to 92.97 meters, not only winning an elusive Olympic medal for Pakistan but set a new Games record. Despite great potential in sports Pakistan had never won an individual Olympic gold medal. The only two bronze medals were won by Mohammad Basheer way back in 1960 (Rome Olympics) and by boxer Hussain Shah in 1988 (Seoul Olympics).
Pakistan’s other eight medals (three golds, three silvers and two bronzes) were won in field hockey. The last Olympic medal was a bronze and won at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. So the wait of 32 years has come to an end while 40 years of waiting for a gold medal. Arshad’s triumph is significant for Pakistan, a country besotted with problems of political instability, economic crisis, terrorism and inflation.
Pakistan’s flag was raised at the Stade de France on Friday night, giving goosebumps to all those who watched. After a long gap, Pakistan’s flag was hoisted at the Olympic stage followed by the national anthem Arshad smiled and sighed a huge relief.
As soon as the medal was won celebrations started in Pakistan, specifically in Arshad’s hometown in Mian Channu. As they say ‘victory has many fathers, but failure is an orphan,” minions started to come forward to take credit for developing and helping Arshad to the Olympic podium. Huge praise was showered on Arshad and cash awards were trumpeted on television and media. This is our usual style so there is nothing new in it.
Also, an old style is that we continue to bask in the glory and wait for another miracle. Arshad’s gold medal achievement is akin to a miracle, nothing less. Why? Simply put it was against all odds that Arshad achieved this milestone. He has fought hard for this medal. The facilities given to other top athletes were well ahead of what Arshad had to contend with.
Barely a year ago, Arshad did not have a proper javelin. It was only General (retired) Akram Sahi, now the chairman of the banned Athletics Federation of Pakistan, who arranged a set of four javelins for the proud son of the soil. Arshad has a salt-of-the-earth persona and is a man of few words. He is unobtrusive and modest. That is why he feels put upon by the authorities. After getting javeils he ran from pillar to post to get a South African visa.
After managing that he received just a three-week training with renowned South African coach Terseus Liebenberg. On the contrary, India’s Neeraj Chopra trained for 60 days in Finland, Germany and Turkiye and his coach Dr Klaus Bartonietz is a human body expert. Neeraj’s annual budget is around 60 million INR which is close to 230 million PKR. Arshad did get Rs 10 million for medical treatment this year which was a great help but his annual budget was not comparable to Neeraj.
But still, Arshad bewildered the world and other competitors with his colossal throw of 92.97 meters. It shook them to no end as Neeraj had five missed attempts, clearly under pressure to match Nadeem’s throw.
Ironically, from a population of close to 250 million, we had just seven athletes in this Olympics. The three shooters besides Nadeem qualified through regional events. Three others competed on wild cards. Now once the celebrations end, all those who run sporting affairs in Pakistan must build on this success.
Arshad should be given more training to defend his title at the Los Angeles Olympics. Besides that, there should be coaching clinics for new players in this field. Arshad and his coaches should spot new talent in this sport so that we have an encore in the next sporting events.
The IPC has to chalk out comprehensive plans. The most essential thing is to make Federations accountable. The IPC and Pakistan Sports Board must identify the talent as well as the sports in which we can do well. Pakistan has historically been good in boxing, weightlifting, shooting and wrestling. They must find new talent in these sports.
Squash, a sport which Pakistan ruled until the last century, will be a new sport in the 2028 Games. We have Hamza Khan who won the world junior title last year. We need to groom him so that we can win a gold medal in the sport.
Arshad Nadeem has opened the door. His success has shown us a way. It must not go wasted. One medal should be doubled to two and so forth and so on. Pakistan has been a proud sporting nation. But there have been very few successes and achievements.
