Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stunned the track and field world as he registered a massive throw of 92.97m in the men's javelin final at the Paris Olympics to shatter the all-time Olympic record and clinch the gold medal. Arshad's 92.97m throw turned out to be decisive as none of the other athletes managed to breach the 90m mark, including the defending champion Neeraj Chopra.
Arshad's next three throws measured 88.72m, 79.40m, and 84.87 before he produced another gigantic effort of 91.79m to breach the 90m mark for the second time in the evening. Arshad's gold medal is Pakistan's first individual gold in Olympic history.
Watch Arshad Nadeem's Olympic record-breaking throw:
Muhammad Bashir was the first Pakistani to claim a medal in an individual event at the Summer Games. Bashir won bronze in the men's freestyle welterweight category at the Rome Olympics to script history for the country. Hussain Shah replicated the same success at the 1988 Seoul Olympics with another bronze medal in the men's middleweight category in boxing.
The majority of Pakistan's success at the Olympics has come owing to its expertise in field hockey. Pakistan has won three gold medals as many silver medals and two bronze medals in men's field hockey. Before Arshad's heroic effort in Paris, Pakistan's last Olympic medal came at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when their men's hockey team won bronze.
Notably, Arshad is one of only seven athletes who are a part of Pakistan's contingent at the Paris Olympics.
Ghulam Mustafa Bashir (25m Rapid Fire Pistol), Gulfam Joseph (10m Air Pistol, 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team), Kishmala Talat (10m Air Pistol, 25m Pistol, 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team), Faiqa Riaz (athlete, 100m race) and Mohammad Ahmed Durrani (200m Freestyle), and swimmer Jahanara Nabi (200m Freestyle) are the other six members of Pakistan's contingent.
