• Sets new Olympic record with monstrous 92.97m throw; terms his victory ‘early Independence Day gift’ for the country
• Win marks Pakistan’s first medal since 1992, first individual gold ever

PARIS: Arshad Nadeem entered the Stade de France for the javelin throw final with his arms in the air and a smile on his face, but left with a gold medal and an Olympic record!

In the quiet, unobtrusive manner that has become his trademark in the elite men’s javelin, the 27-year-old stormed the field to take a terrific, historic gold at the finals here at the Paris Olympics with a mammoth 92.97m off his second throw.

It was an Olympic record, erasing the existing one of 90.57m, set by Andreas Thorkildsen at Beijing 2008.

For the under-powered Pakistan contingent in Paris — with the once-legendary men’s hockey team absent from the Olympic stage — this was arguably the country’s greatest moment in decades.

Arshad’s gold is Pakistan’s only gold medal outside of hockey, which they last won 40 years ago at Los Angeles in 1984. It is also Pakistan’s first medal of any colour since 1992.

Before Arshad’s remarkable victory, Pakistan had never won an individual gold medal at a Summer Games. Prior to Thursday, only two Pakistan athletes had won individual medals of any colour —Mohammad Bashir’s wrestling bronze in 1960 and Hussain Shah’s boxing bronze in 1988.

Arshad’s feat makes him perhaps the country’s greatest-ever Olympian. With the eyes of the world on him, he fell to the ground in prostration after securing the win, before draping the Pakistan flag over his broad shoulders to celebrate his glory.

“It’s an amazing feeling … to win Olympic gold,” a beaming Arshad told reporters afterwards. “I’m thankful to Allah for giving me the fruit of my labour and to all the people back home who prayed for me. I’ll try to do even better next time around.”

Since bursting into the national consciousness at the last Olympics in Tokyo — where he finished fifth — Arshad has had a tough time with injuries, but has bounced back on each occasion, and won several accolades along the way.

“I would like to say a special word of thanks for Dr Ali Sher Bajwa, who helped me during surgery and rehabilitation, and to my coach Salman Butt who ensured I came back even stronger and better,” he said, before adding that his gold medal was an “Independence Day gift for the country”.

A share of the cheers at the Stade de France — the scene of so many of France’s imperious football successes — were expectedly reserved for India’s Neeraj Chopra, the defending Olympic champion and crowd favourite, interspersed by the din for the women’s long jump at the far end of the arena.

Then, they were distracted by the men’s 200m final and the hoopla that it brings.

In the midst of all this, Arshad had already made his first throw, a feeble effort with the spear landing well behind any self-respecting thrower’s attempt. The watching crowd may have even mistaken it for a trial throw as the javelin competition seemed to halt for the track events, which included the women’s heptathlon programme.

“I was feeling so good today that I almost botched up my run-up,” Arshad would admit later.

Chopra, too, seemed atypically consumed by the atmosphere, a fine opening throw ruined when he touched the white line with his elbow during his landing scramble. Naturally, all eyes were on the Indian, close rival Julien Weber of Germany and Czech Jakub Vadlejch, who set the pace early. In all this, Arshad seemed forgotten, happy to remain in the shadows and stay there.

Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott’s 86.16m throw had seen him take the lead in the opening round and Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who ultimately ended up with bronze, notched 87.87m with his second effort.

Then came Arshad’s moment of magic — and history.

Two years ago at the Commonwealth Games, he had thrown 90.18m to clinch gold and here, at the biggest stage, he bettered it.

As the noise of the men’s 200m subsided, Arshad — the fourth thrower in the line-up — galloped in and flung the spear noiselessly and unnoticed. Only the 200m winner, Letslie Tebogo of Botswana seemed to be reminding the world that something special was on its way, when he rang the ceremonial bell just seconds before to celebrate his own fine win. Arshad’s fluorescent green spear flew into the now-cooling Stade de France air and darkening skies of Paris, climbing in a most deceptive arc, almost like a jet aircraft on take-off groaning under the weight of excess baggage.

It climbed and climbed, and then suddenly remembered it had a job to do. So, like a guided missile that has identified its target, it changed path and landed, after what seemed an eternity, across the 90m mark.

The whole stadium fell silent, at the other end, Arshad looked on in disbelief, his mouth open and eyes wide. Then the penny dropped, and he let out a silent roar. The crowd erupted, as the Pakistani raised his arms in the air in an early, most untimely triumph. His coach, Salman Butt, jumped with joy in the stands. The contest was good as over. The rest of the field, Chopra included, could pack in their javelins and go home.

But then there’s the pride of competing. Arshad’s early salvo, even before the javelin field was up and about, jolted the rest into action. Stung, Chopra replied with a similar-looking effort and a 89.45m throw catapulted him immediately into second place, setting up the anticipation of a fine contest between the two South Asians. But the defending champion was having a miserable night, fouling four throws at the start. His second-placing 89.45m — Chopra’s season’s best — was his only legitimate throw till the halfway mark.

Arshad, in contrast, need not have bothered. He continued to fling the javelin with decrementing effort and returns thereafter — 88.72m, 79.40m, 84.87m — somewhat content in the idea that the rest were only playing catch-up, and that they had a lot of catching up to do.

In the end, no one could; in their final throws — the sixth, Neeraj fouled again, while Arshad came up with a monstrous 91.79m.

By special arrangement with Times of India

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2024