PAKISTAN MUST BE THANKFUL TO NEERAJ CHOPRA!
Arshad Nadeem won Pakistan’s the first ever Olympic Gold Medal in any individual competition. This medal belongs to only Arshad Nadeem and the whole nation must be thankful to Indian super-athlete Neeraj Chopra for the achievement.
Arshad Nadeem must be over the moon to defeat his ideal Neeraj Chopra in any competition and Pakistan as a Nation must be thankful to Neeraj Chopra! The story starts from Guwahati (South Asian Games 2016) and has a fairy tale twist at Paris (Olympics 2024) last night.
Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem shared the podium several times and participated together at international stages, from their first meeting at South Asian Games 2016 at Guhawati, Asian Junior Championships, Ho Chi-Minh 2016, World U20 Athletics Championships, Bydgoszcz 2016Asian Athletics Championships, Bhubaneshwar 2017, Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 2018, Asian Games, Jakarta 2018, Tokyo Olympics 2020, World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022 to World Athletics Championships, 2023.
In all these competitions Neeraj Chopra defeated Arshad Nadeem effortlessly!
However, Arshad Nadeem always considered Neeraj Chopra as his inspiration, but it was Neeraj Chopra who always lead the competitions. This was the real motivation for Arshad Nadeem. He wished Neeraj Chopra a day before the final competition at Paris Olympics in these words:
“It gives me immense joy that there are only two of us from South Asia, myself and Neeraj bhai, who are performing on the world stage along with the other players who compete with Neeraj,” Arshad Nadeem said.
“I hope that we continue to perform for our respective countries and make the names of our countries shine bright globally.”
AND THEY DID IT
But we should never forget that just a few months ago Arshad Nadeem was literally begging to the Pakistan Government for a Javelin and facilities for the training to participate in the Olympics.
In March 2024 Arshad Nadeem told media that “It has now got to a stage where the javelin is damaged, and I have asked the national federation and my coach to do something about it before the Paris Olympics.”
At this moment Neeraj Chopra extended his support to his Pakistani rival, Arshad Nadeem, and Neeraj Chopra urged the Pakistani government and relevant authorities to step in and provide the necessary support to Nadeem. “It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin,” Neeraj Chopra remarked.
“Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all. Arshad is a top javelin thrower, and I believe that the javelin makers will be more than happy to sponsor him and provide what he needs.” This is the kind of sportsmanship-friendship they share at both international and personal level equally.
And last night after the Javelin Throw final at Paris Olympics Neeraj Chopra once again acknowledged Arshad Nadeem’s hard work and struggle, and congratulated his friend.
“I have been competing against Arshad since 2016, but this is the first time I have lost to him. But credit where credit is due, Arshad has worked really hard, and he was better than I was at night. Congratulations to him.”
Pakistan must be thankful to NEERAJ CHOPRA. In this long struggle road to victory, without him it was almost impossible for Arshad Nadeem to win the Gold medal at Olympics!
Shiraz Hassan
