Track and field athletes Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem share a brilliant camaraderie both on and off the field despite being fierce competitors. While India's system is rather an organised one, Pakistan's is far from it, causing Nadeem to struggle even for a javelin at one point in his career.
It was Neeraj Chopra, who extended his support to his Pakistani rival. The incident dates back to March 2024, a few months before the Paris 2024 Olympics. Nadeem revealed that he has been using the same javelin for 7-8 years and that it is no longer good enough for top-tier competitions.
When speaking to the media that time, he claimed, as quoted by Economic Times:
"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."
The revelation had shocked Neeraj Chopra and he said, as quoted by Economic Times:
"It is hard to believe that he has been struggling to get a new javelin. Given his credentials, this should not be a big issue at all. Arshad is a top javelin thrower and I believe the javelin makers will be more than happy to sponsor him and provide what he needs."
Arshad Nadeem's struggles:
An old video of Nadeem has also gone viral when he had qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. The surroundings shows his humble background from which he comes and the village where he practices for the high-level competitions. His coach said in the video:
"By qualifying for the Olympics, Arshad Nadeem has made history. I don't think the government supported him as well as it should have. Being a coach, all I know is I want to better his throw and make it the best. Maybe the way he is doing, there is gold in this too.
Nadeem claimed in the video that cricketers get paid over other athletes in Pakistan and wants the government to listen to his pleas for better facilities.
"Everyone respects me. But if you see where cricketers are living, and you can see my level. I request the government to pay attention to my condition. I feel I would've been a world champion had I been in Germany or Finland. I have seen several sportsmen, they are not coming into the game. Instead, they are concentrating on their duties."
"I was even confident of throwing beyond 92.97m" - Arshad Nadeem
Following his performance, Nadeem thanked everyone who kept him in their prayers and credited his fitness for the performance he gave. He also vowed to work harder moving forward and target throwing breaking his own record. As quoted by NDTV, he stated:
"I am thankful to the nation. Everyone prayed for me, and I was hopeful of doing well. Over the years, I got a knee injury and recovered, and worked hard on my fitness. I was even confident of throwing beyond 92.97m, but that throw was enough for me to get the gold. I will continue to work hard and give my best in the days and months to come. I am planning to throw beyond this mark as well."
