AFTER a weightlifting gold medal by Nooh Butt, celebrated Arshad Nadeem grabbed another gold for Pakistan with his scintillating performance, first, in Birmingham Commonwealth Games javelin throw final, and, then, in the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya. These are no mean feat and must be celebrated nationally.

Arshad’s success at the Commonwealth Games, for instance, was the first ever medal in 56 years for Pakistan in track and field in the multi-sports event. In many ways, it is a success much bigger than what our cricketers have achieved in many a year. This is not to undermine the achievement of our cricketers, but to highlight the need to celebrate our victories in other domains just as much.

Arshad showed his class and determination by record-smashing 90.18 meters throw in a star-studded field that had world champion Anderson Peters, former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott and former Commonwealth and world champion Julius Yego.

Not only this, he stood on the victory podium with Pakistan’s first ever track and field gold in the Games despite carrying a serious elbow injury and being without his coach. He overcame much to end the medal drought for the country.

Arshad’s brilliant performance proved yet again there are sports other than cricket that need government patronage and attention. The government should support such talent by providing them grants as well as coaching and training facilities.

There is also a lesson for big businesses and corporations: there are sports beyond cricket and they have opportunities to grow their businesses while promoting and sponsoring athletes like Arshad, Nooh and so many more in so many more games and disciplines. And they will not regret, for Arshad, who snapped up the gold with a Games record throw, is now hungry for a world record. Would it be a bad deal to sponsor the Commonwealth Games champion if he wins the world title by breaking the record? One can imagine what wonders this 25-year-old from Mian Chunnu can do with due care and support when he is performing brilliantly without any patronage, and despite carrying injuries.

As a matter of fact, businessmen invest where they see the worth of their investment. Here in Pakistan, there is only one commercial sport and that is cricket. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) attracts sponsors and big money, while other sports receive a cold shoulder and a step-motherly treatment by both government and private sponsors.

It is time the government launched sports channels with focus on sports other than cricket to attract more sponsors that may in time mean more glory in the field.

Eman Mudassar Tarar
Sargodha

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2022