Passion, dedication, perseverance, Humility, and calmness has defeated money with 92.97m longer Javelin throw
Who is Arshad Nadeem?
Arshad Nadeem is a Pakistani sports man who flourished his athletic skills in Javelin throw. He was born on 2nd of January 1997 in “Mian Channu” that lies in district Khanewal of Punjab province in Pakistan. Arshad Nadeem belongs to a lower class family where his father is a construction worker and his mother is a house wife. By age, he comes at number three among eight siblings.
Arshad Nadeem stepped in sports during his early education at school level. He is extraordinarily a versatile athlete and along with practicing Javelin throw he played other games like cricket, football, badminton, and athletics. Initially, he was pursuing his career in cricket and played at district level in tape-ball cricket tournaments.
After getting into grade seven at school, Arshad Nadeem found “Rasheed Ahmad Saqi” who was a sportsman developer, and started with training soon afterwards. Arshad Nadeem was persuaded by his father “Muhammad Ashraf’’ to start a career in Javelin throw and eventually in 2015, he opted Javelin instead of cricket.
Personal Profile
Arshad Nadeem is very humble, devoted, persevere, quiet, and calm personality. He categorizes himself as an introvert and focused individual. The religious orientation of Nadeem is linked with Islam. According to his Coach “Salman Iqbal Butt”, Arshad Nadeem is obedient and respectful athlete who always bow his head with courteous manners.
Arshad Nadeem is a typical villager and likes to eat organic food. He is married with Ayesha and has one daughter and a son. The gold medal in Paris Olympics 2024 has changed the fate of Arshad Nadeem after being awarded massively by different provincial governments, federal government, institutions, enterprises, and individual personalities.
Career of Arshad Nadeem
Arshad Nadeem emergence as a star athlete for Pakistan is the result of his several years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. The lack of institutional support and financial constraints, restricted Arshad Nadeem to rise and shine quickly. However, local community, father’s dedication, relatives, some Pakistani cricketers, and international Javelin athlete ‘’Neeraj chopra’’ backed this extraordinary talent to achieve his goals.
In February 2016, South Asian Games were held in Guwahati, India, and in June 2016, Asian Junior athletics championship was conducted in 2016 at Saigon city, where Arshad Nadeem won bronze medals in both of these events. In 2017, Pakistani Javelin star got third position in Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku and secured bronze medal.
In August 2018, at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Arshad Nadeem was rewarded with Bronze Medal after setting his personal and national best of 80.75m. In November 2019, national games were organized in Peshawar and Nadeem won gold medal for WAPDA. Nepal hosted South Asian Games in December 2019, where Pakistani Star athlete finished at first position and awarded with Gold medal.
In 2020, after qualifying in Tokyo Olympics, Arshad Nadeem and his father heavily criticized the authorities for not providing facilities and neglecting the talent in sports other than cricket in Pakistan. Despite of having extreme difficulties, in August 2021, Nadeem qualified for the final of Tokyo Olympics 2020 and finished at 5th position. Iran organized Imam Reza Cup in Mashhad city in 2021 and Arshad Nadeem blessed with Gold medal.
In 2022, Arshad Nadeem participated in three different events, and gave a praise able performance. In July 2022, He got 5th position in “World Athletics Championships” that was held in Eugene, USA. In August 2022, Nadeem set the record for South Asia with the throw of 90.18m on his fifth attempt and awarded with Gold medal in Commonwealth games. He emerged as victorious in Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya, Turkey, in August 2022 and won gold medal.
In 2023, Arshad Nadeem brought first ever medal (silver) for Pakistan in World Athletic Championship held in Budapest, Hungary with the throw of 87.82m. The Paris Diamond League was organized in July 2024 where Nadeem finished at fourth position. The Paris Olympics 2024 was proved as life changing event for Arshad Nadeem because of setting several records and securing first Olympic Gold Medal for Pakistan since 1984.
In Paris Olympic 2024, Arshad Nadeem set the Olympic record with longest throw of 92.97m in the final of Olympic history. The 92.97m of throw, is the sixth longest throw ever in Javelin. He is first Pakistani who won Olympic gold medal in an individual sport. On 11th of August 2024, after winning gold medal in Paris Olympics, Arshad Nadeem was welcomed by top government officials at Lahore airport and honored with parade.
The graphical representation of Arshad Nadeem’s seasonal best by year is given below.
The above horizontal bar chart shows the success story of Arshad Nadeem where he started with the maximum distance of 70.46m in 2015 at the early stage of his career. Then with the result of hard work and dedication for his profession, he kept on rising up year by year with increased length of Javelin throw. However, the increase in distance from 2015 to 2024 is not exponential or constant that shows that during his career Arshad Nadeem faced some challenges like poor or absence of support from authorities and medical issues.
Medical Issues of Arshad Nadeem
Arshad Nadeem got some medical issues with his shoulder, knee, and elbow that became worse to such an extent that Pakistan’s Javelin star had to gone through multiple surgeries. In December 2022, Nadeem went to United Kingdom for getting treatment of his elbow and knee joint at Spire Cambridge Lea hospital.
Arshad Nadeem suffered in a knee injury after participating in National Games of Pakistan in 2023 and eventually he ruled out of Asian Athletics Championships. In February 2024, Nadeem got latest surgery just few months before Paris Olympics where he achieved his maximum with 92.97m long throw.