Observe-and-field athlete Arshad Nadeem was given a hero’s welcome upon his return to Pakistan after ending fifth within the males’s javelin throw occasion on the Tokyo Olympics.
Punjab Sports activities Minister Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti and different officers acquired the athlete on the Lahore airport. In a tweet, the minister mentioned that every one nationwide heroes should be appreciated.
Speaking about embarking on a “new sports journey”, he mentioned that athletes should be supplied with the mandatory atmosphere in order that they will make the nation proud at a world stage. “The government will take all possible steps in this regard,” he mentioned.
Video footage from outdoors the airport confirmed an emotional Nadeem greeting his mom and falling to his knees as followers and household showered him with rose petals and reward. The 2 embraced as bystanders and his mom comforted him.
Later, in his hometown of Mian Channu, Nadeem was welcomed by a crowd of admirers chanting his title alongside slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad”. Residents additionally took images with the athlete.
Final week, all eyes had been on Nadeem as he competed within the ultimate of the lads’s javelin throw regardless of having nearly no help or infrastructure to coach for the worldwide occasion.
Nevertheless, the hopes for a medal couldn’t materialise as India’s Neeraj Chopra claimed gold, whereas Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Vitezslav Vesely claimed silver and bronze medals.
Regardless of the loss, residents had been fast to laud the efforts of the athlete and congratulated him on making it to the ultimate.
Learn: ‘True champion’: Arshad Nadeem wins Pakistan’s hearts even when medal eludes
On Wednesday, a senate committee determined to honour Nadeem and weightlifter Talha Talib — who additionally narrowly missed out on a medal on the Olympics.
The Punjab authorities has additionally introduced money rewards of Rs1 million for Nadeem, Talib and mountaineer Shehroz Kashif for his or her latest stellar performances on the world stage.
The person from Mian Channu
Nadeem is the nation’s first track-and-field athlete to qualify straight for the Olympics and the primary Pakistani to qualify for the ultimate of any track-and-field occasion on the Video games.
Arshad has a personal-best throw of 86.38m, which he achieved in April throughout his gold medal run on the Imam Raza Athletics Cup in Iran.
Nevertheless it hasn’t been a simple path for the 1.87m-tall athlete, who comes from a village in a wheat and cotton-producing space of Punjab. With little children put to work early, he had little time for his old flame, cricket, and amenities and correct coaching had been scarce.
Nadeem was an exceptionally versatile athlete in his early college years. Although he dabbled in all of the sports activities on supply in his college — cricket, badminton, soccer and athletics — his ardour was cricket.
However after a few years, he had to decide on between cricket and athletics. The third oldest amongst 5 brothers, he took inspiration from his elder brothers, each of whom had been athletes on the divisional stage, and determined to pursue athletics after a radical dialogue along with his coach.
“Leaving cricket behind was not straightforward, however it turned out to be the most effective selections of my life. My father was a labourer, we didn’t have the required sources or contacts to make it professional in cricket. My college’s PT [physical training] academics Ajmal and Zafar sorted me effectively and helped me regulate to the change,” he instructed Daybreak EOS final yr.
In a latest interview with Geo Information, his father Muhammad Ashraf mentioned that his son didn’t also have a floor to observe in. In keeping with the report, Nadeem educated in his personal home’s courtyard and the streets whereas cash for health machines was offered by his father.
