Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem, and an Olympic Rivalry for the Ages

Nadeem has not only created records for the ages but also re-ignited an India-Pakistan rivalry.

Paris Olympics 2024: Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra.

Image: PTI/Altered by The Quint

Pakistan’s six foot four, javelin throwing machine, Arshad Nadeem has finally stepped out from the shadows. In stunning style. Nadeem, constantly playing second fiddle to now India’s former Olympic and the 2023 World Champion, Neeraj Chopra, on his second throw, launched a monster 92.97 into the Parisian night. The javelin, quivering in flight, took an almost perfect arc, as Nadeem, who had a ragged first throw, stood on the edge of the throwing arena, watching. Hands on knees, slightly bent over, it for a moment seemed that both the javelin and its thrower were looking into the great beyond.

It was indeed the great beyond, catapulting both Pakistan and Nadeem into the record books. For Pakistan it was their first Olympic medal in 32 years since the hockey team had won bronze in 92’ Barcelona; it was their first individual Olympic gold medal; and for Pakistan and Nadeem it came with an icing on the cake – an Olympic record, previously held by Andreas Thorkildsen of Denmark with 90.57m at Beijing 2008.

Image: PTI

Arshad Nadeem Landed The Big Prize

Nadeem, javelin’s bounty hunter, had finally landed the big prize. In the wake of that 92.97, as early as the 2^nd throw, he had sent half the field home; the rest could only hope to recalibrate their minds, helplessly look at their coaches, and somehow try and keep their wits around them.

Neeraj Chopra, who seemed in ominous form after his 89.34 in the qualifying, had already fouled his first throw. Nadeem, in fact, looked completely out of sorts in his first attempt. He made the run-in, stopped midway and then went back to the start but it was a no-throw. At that moment, Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott with a throw of 86.16m was the leader. It appeared to be a long evening with an unpredictable, haphazard script.

Image: PTI

Nadeem, however, flipped over the competition.

Rattled competitors sat on the bench, trying to make sense of the new world that Nadeem had created. Some paced around the throwing arena. The others just sat. Except for the experienced 3-4 throwers, the rest knew it was over.

Neeraj Chopra's Throw: A Hope

Yet, it was re-ignited by Neeraj Chopra, sprinting in for his second with a throw of 89.45. Some semblance of order had been restored. In Chopra’s throw, the others would have found an outlet, a hope, a flicker that one of them, maybe, they themselves, the likes of Anderson, Jakub Vadlejch, Julian Weber even the 35-year-old Julius Yego, Kenya’s first javelin World Champion and the 2016 Rio silver medallist could push 90 plus. Anderson, Weber and Yego did an 87 plus in their second throws, somehow keeping that hope alive, ensuring that the competition that seemed dead, still had some life left.

Vadlejch threw 88.50 in his 3^rd. Nadeem followed it up with an 88.72. In the 4^th, Anderson flicked a switch and edged into 3^rd spot with 88.54. Chopra, however, was fighting a different battle. Suddenly, a thrower, who always seemed so much in control of the surroundings, even himself, wasn’t able to put the parts together that had given him that invincible aura over the years since winning the Tokyo Olympic gold, the 2023 World Championships, the Diamond League final and two consecutive Asian Games golds.

Chopra not only seemed unsure, but his face also betrayed a range of emotions, of a man, walking in unfamiliar terrain. Four consecutive no-throws followed. It was a shocking sequence from a thrower known for his consistency in hitting that 88-89 mark. That is what most believed would launch his first foray into the 90m plus territory.

Image: PTI

The silver, in normal circumstances, almost seemed so unsilver like. This is no disrespect to Nadeem and that monstrous throw that gave Pakistan it’s first individual gold but over the last couple of years, Chopra has had such a sway over the competition that a gold, was almost given.

He Would Be Back & Raring To Go Longer Distances

Later, Chopra in an interview to the host broadcaster, Jio, would speak about the injury that bothered him and reassure his fans that he would be back and raring to go longer distances. “The groin injury has been bothering me and I have been stretching it by going to various competitions. Results can go in any direction and today was not my day.”

Chopra did speak about his 2^nd throw and how he believed he could bring about a big one that didn’t happen but said “there is more in me, and I know that. I will go for longer distances.”

Despite always maintaining that distances don’t bother him as much and that 90m mark is not a pressure, he would surely feel it now after not one but two 90m plus throws from Nadeem; the Pakistan throwers 6th and final attempt was a celebratory 91.79m! “It’s not always about a medal. But I know I can throw long distances. Before the next Olympic Games, there are more competitions, and I can throw big.”

Image: PTI

The Re-ignited India-Pakistan Rivalry

Nadeem in his wake has left behind a pixelated world of javelin. For the rest, they have to stand up and be counted. Nadeem, the introvert, with extroverted javelin prowess, has not only created records for the ages but also re-ignited an India-Pakistan rivalry and at the same time, shifted javelin’s European bastion to South Asia, to the sub-continent.

In the months to come, with a World Championship looming ahead in 2025 Tokyo, Nadeem, the thrower with the spiritual realm and Neeraj Chopra, still straining at the leash, the 90 plus mark pushing him hard now, may just re-write a clutch of records.