Meet Pakistan’s Olympic javelin thrower

Arshad Nadeem is one of seven athletes representing Pakistan at the Paris Olympics - and its biggest hope for a medal.

Lahore, Pakistan – On a balmy evening in August 2022 at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, the largest athletics grounds in the United Kingdom, a packed crowd was following the drama unfolding in the men’s javelin competition.

Arshad Nadeem, the Pakistani athlete, was preparing for his fifth and penultimate throw.

Moments earlier, Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a two-time world champion, had delivered a mighty 88.64-metre (291ft) throw, propelling himself to the gold medal position and pushing Nadeem down to second place.

Nadeem took hold of his bright yellow javelin and strode towards the beginning of his run-up, holding up his arms and clapping at the crowd, which cheered back enthusiastically.

Until Peters’s throw, Nadeem had led the competition, already surpassing the 85-metre (279ft) mark three times with his longest throw at 88 metres (289ft).

As the crowd’s clapping and cheering picked up, Nadeem, his throwing arm lined with pink therapeutic tape, took long strides before launching the javelin with a low grunt.

Beneath Birmingham’s pink and blue dusk sky, the spear soared through the air for about five seconds, then landed beyond the 90-metre (295ft) mark. The crowd roared as Nadeem held up his arms triumphantly, a gentle smile on his face before hugging a smiling Peters.

Shortly after, with no other competitor matching Nadeem’s record in their sixth and final attempt, his victory became official.

Nadeem’s throw was a new event record and also Pakistan’s first gold medal in track and field in six decades. He also became the first South Asian and only the second Asian man to surpass the 90-metre mark in