Arshad Nadeem, the first-ever individual athlete to win a gold medal in Pakistan’s history, was confident of victory, asserting it was “my day” as he carved history at the Paris Olympics 2024 Thursday night.
The 27-year-old javelin thrower, in an exclusive conversation with Geo News, said: “It was my day. I could have thrown it at a greater distance.”
The athlete, revealing the reason behind his win, said he was “in the rhythm” and “hopeful” to win the gold medal with how far he had launched the javelin.
Nadeem expressed his wish to celebrate August 14 with the medal.
The javelin ace — who registered a new Olympic record after fetching a 92.97m of the throw in the second round, enough for him to win the competition as others remained behind — made history at the mega sporting event and also brought home the first Olympic gold after 40 long years in any discipline.
Pakistan had earlier won gold medals only in hockey, the last being in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
His throw also set the Olympic record which was previously with Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen who registered at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Following Nadeem’s historic win, Pakistan won an Olympic medal after the gap of 32 years. The last time Pakistan won an medal was in 1992 when the national hockey team clinched bronze by defeating the Netherlands 4-3 at the Barcelona Olympics.
