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$470k windfall for Nadeem's javelin gold a welcome gift
The Straits Times
|August 11, 2024
Arshad Nadeem's home village erupted into rapturous celebrations after he clinched Pakistan's first Olympic medal in athletics, winning gold in the javelin and knocking defending champion and arch-rival Neeraj Chopra of India into second place.
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Nadeem's triumph on Aug 8 in Paris is all the more impressive for a man born and raised in a mud brick house in an impoverished corner of rural Pakistan and forced as a young man to train in wheat fields with homemade javelins.
The news of his victory, which reached Pakistan late at night, thrilled his compatriots, drawing congratulatory messages from the nation's leaders and prompting jubilant dancing and fireworks in his normally sleepy home village of Mian Channu.
"We have not been able to sleep since last night because relatives, the media, friends, fans and state functionaries are constantly visiting us to congratulate the family," his oldest brother Shahid Nadeem said on Aug 9.
Pakistan mostly channels its limited funding for sport into team games such as cricket and hockey.
This story is from the August 11, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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