Paris Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra of India and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will face off in the men's javelin final of the Paris Olympics 2024 today. Star athlete Arshad Nadeem is Pakistan's biggest hope for an Olympic medal, aiming to earn the country's first.

Who is Arshad Nadeem?

Nadeem was born on January 2, 1997, in a small village near Mian Channu in Pakistan's southern Punjab state. Nadeem, the third of seven siblings, was raised in an environment with limited resources. His father, Muhammad Ashraf, a retired construction worker, was the only breadwinner.

Nadeem became interested in sports after watching his older brother Shahid Azeem compete regionally in track and field competitions. He began playing football, hockey, badminton, kabaddi and cricket, Pakistan's most popular sport.

Cricket was his first love. "He was well-known in the village for his bowling skills," Nadeem’s brother Shahid said. However, Nadeem's father and two older brothers discouraged him from pursuing cricket. Following this, Nadeem, who was fast and strong, began competing in school athletics events such as sprints, long jump, triple leap, discus throwing, and javelin. 

Arshad Nadeem's first coach

Rasheed Ahmed Saqi, a hotelier and Mian Channu native who scouts and invests in rising athletic talent witnessed Nadeem compete in 2011.

In 2015, an army representative came knocking. However, Saqi resisted, stating, 'Your training will damage my athlete.'" He was concerned about Nadeem's army and sports training.

Saqi, who trained Nadeem till 2015, still has close relations with the athlete. Nadeem refers to Saqi as his "spiritual father". Saqi got him his first pair of javelin spikes when he had no idea they existed, much less owned them.

Arshad Nadeem's rise

In 2015, Nadeem, then 18, became Pakistan's national champion.

In 2026, Nadeem was selected for the South Asian Games in India, his first international competition. The sporting event, held in Guwahati, India, was also the first time Nadeem faced up against the then-emerging Indian star Neeraj Chopra.

Nadeem, who entered the event with a niggle in his throwing elbow, managed a throw of 78.33 meters (257ft), gaining his first international medal, bronze, while Chopra won gold.

Nadeem became the first Pakistani to qualify for the final of a track and field event at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. He finished fifth in the Men's Javelin Throw with a distance of 84.62 metres. 

He earned a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

He also added a silver medal to his collection during the World Championship in 2023.