While basking in the glory of Olympic gold medal, Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem on Monday said he was unable to sleep watching people’s immense love for him.
Nadeem landed the country’s first gold medal since 1984 and the first of any since 1992, beating defending champion and Indian rival Neeraj Chopra into second in the javelin on August 8. His throw of 92.97 meters was also an Olympic record.
In response to people’s affection, the javelin thrower said, he was sparing his time to meet them, as they “deserve it”.
The 27-year-old thanked everyone for supporting him and giving him a grandiose welcome upon returning to home.
“When I reached my village, I was extremely delighted upon seeing the masses from the nearby villages gathered [for me],” he said.
Sharing his journey, Nadeem said he played different events in 2012 and secured victories. Then, he said, he played his first international event in 2016 and finally reaped fruit of his hard work on August 8, 2024.
“After the Tokyo Olympics [2020], I toiled really hard for the Paris Olympics,” he said.
Reminiscing the Olympic final, he said he felt great while taking the run-up and wished to throw the javelin as far as he could in the second attempt so that he would not have to feel pressure in the third attempt.
“If the second throw would not have landed [far], then I would have been under pressure in the third one,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said, he also tried to avoid an injury.
The Olympian told Geo News that he had suffered an injury as well after a surgery.
The Mian Channu-based athlete has had at least two surgeries in the recent past as he had successfully undergone elbow surgery in 2022 and then a knee surgery just few months before the Paris Olympics.
He said his coach put much effort in his training and doctor helped him in rehab.
Nadeem requested the nation to pray for his health and vowed to win more medals for Pakistan next time as well.
