Arshad Nadeem on Thursday created a new Olympic record for the men's javelin throw in Paris to secure Pakistan's first individual gold for an athlete at the Summer Games.
In his six attempts at the final for the men's javelin throw, Nadeem threw an Olympic record of 92.97 metres. It surpassed the best throw from his closest rival, India's defending champion Neeraj Chopra, who took silver with a throw of 89.45.
Grenada's Anderson Peters claimed bronze with 88.54m.
This is 27-year-old Nadeem's first podium finish at the Olympics, having previously finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. However, he followed up that performance by winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and a silver medal at last year's World Championships in Budapest.
After his throw was measured, Nadeem said that he had a sense it could be a record once the javelin left his hand.
"When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand and sensed it could be an Olympic record," said the 27-year-old Nadeem.
He said the result, a first individual gold medal, was "very important for Pakistan."
"My training and hard work have paid off."
The win sparked widespread jubilation in Pakistan, with congratulations pouring from all over. To mark the achievement, sweets were distributed in his home.
Record-breaking throw
Nadeem's final at the Olympics was record-breaking.
Having thrown the javelin for 86.59 metres in the qualifiers, Nadeem had just managed to scrape into the final.
The nine-time international medalist was behind India's Neeraj Chopra and Grenada's Anderson Peters, who recorded throws of 89.34 and 88.63 metres, respectively, from Group B.
Germany's Julian Weber topped Group A with a throw of 87.76 metres, followed by Kenya's Julius Yego from the same group, who threw the javelin at 85.97 metres. Czech athlete Jakub Vadlejch recorded an impressive throw at 85.63 metres, while Finland's Toni Keranin threw the light spear at 85.27 metres.
But in Thursday's final, Nadeem broke Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen's Olympic record of 90.57 metres when he threw the javelin 92.97 metres on his second attempt.
He followed this with a throw of 91.79 metres on his final try. This meant he had recorded two throws over 90 metres in an international javelin throw final.
With his attempt listed as the sixth-best of all-time, only Johannes Vetter of Germany and Anderson Peters of Grenada have previously thrown the javelin over 90 metres multiple times in a final.
Vetter had four throws over 90 metres at the Lucerne Diamond League in 2017, while Peters had three throws over 90 metres in Eugene in 2022.
Nadeem, though, said he hoped to throw even further.
"I was expecting to go even further, and I am hoping to go even further," he said after setting a new Olympic record that beat his previous best by more than two metres.
"I will try harder to even extend my personal best to over 95 metres."
Historic gold
Nadeem's gold medal is historic for multiple reasons. The first is that he created a new Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 metres.
Nadeem's medal is the first gold medal that an individual Pakistani athlete has won at the Olympics. Previously, Pakistani athletes have won medals in individual sports, but they were not gold.
The first medal came in the 1960 Olympics in Rome when Muhammad Bashir won the bronze for wrestling.
The next individual medal, however, was not until 1988 when Hussain Shah won the bronze for boxing.
But this is not Pakistan's first gold medal at the Olympics. In fact, this is the fourth gold medal Pakistan has won at the Olympics.
Pakistan's first Olympic medal was in 1956, when the men's field hockey team won silver in Melbourne.
They followed that by winning the country's first gold at the 1960 games in Rome.
After another silver medal in 1964 at the Tokyo games, Pakistan bagged its second-ever gold after the men's hockey team won in Mexico City.
The hockey team won silver and bronze at the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Olympics. It won its third gold in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The team then had to wait ten years for its next Olympic medal, winning bronze at the 1992 Barcelona games.
However, that was the last Olympic medal in any discipline that Pakistan would win for the next 32 years until Nadeem won gold at the Paris games.
Rivalry
Nadeem's rise in the javelin throw, an obscure section of Pakistani athletics, came into the spotlight after he made it to the Tokyo games and came in fifth. But he gained further prominence at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he fiercely fought and triumphed against Neeraj Chopra.
With Chopra hailing from neighbouring India, it lent a natural rivalry to the contest. The fact that Chopra went on to become the world champion added to the rivalry, with the two constantly pushing each other to do better.
The rivalry with Chopra "is there, no doubt," Nadeem admitted after Thursday's event.
"Like cricket, the javelin rivalry was present! People back home in Pakistan and India were eager to see us compete together," he said.
The two countries attempt to compete in every international sport they compete in.
Nadeem, however, believes the rivalry is a good thing for young people in both countries to watch the sport.
"It's a positive thing for both countries."
Chopra agreed, saying it was good for both countries and could act as a spur to attract more people to athletics, particularly javelin.
Chopra was satisfied with his throw, admitting that injuries prevented him from performing optimally.
"I'm not that happy with my performance today, and also my technique and runway was not that good," he said.
"Only one throw, the rest I fouled. That second throw, I believed in myself to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run-up is not so good, you can't go very far."
Chopra admitted to not doing much throwing in training because of a groin injury.
"The last two, three years were not so good. I'm always injured. I really tried hard, but I have to do some more work on my injury and technique.
"Today's competition was really great. Nadeem threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country."