KARACHI: Arshad Nadeem walked out of shadows and straight into the history books on Friday, after his 92.97m gold medal throw and Olympic record became the cause célèbre for a nation thirsting for good news.

There were tears in his eyes as the Pakistani nati­onal anthem boomed across the Stade de France after he was crowned an Olympic champion javelin thrower.

“It was unbelievable,” coach Salman Butt told Dawn from Paris the day after his protégé made history.

“I knew he had a big throw [in him], but that was really surprising,” he chuckled, betraying a sense of pride that his apprentice had exceeded expectations.

Arshad’s monstrous throw was a first for Pakistan, in many respects. It was the country’s first individual gold medal; the first medal of any colour in 32 years; and, the first gold medal in 40 years.

As expected, the adulation and praise poured in from all sides.

Hefty cash awards and effusive praise cropped up overnight, even from quarters that had earlier turned a blind eye to the budding athlete. Announcements of prizes from the governments of Sindh and Punjab netted him pledges of around Rs 150m.

In typical Pakistani fashion, many rushed to claim credit for Arshad’s win, with various sports bodies proclaiming their unwavering support for the athlete.

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) claimed to have spent Rs23m on Arshad over the past five years in prize money and expenses for Arshad’s knee surgery earlier this year. PSB’s Muhammad Shahid told Dawn Arshad has been at PSB’s training camps at the Lahore Coaching Centre, which the government supported.

But the bountiful expenditure stands in stark contrast to the dearth of facilities the star athlete had to make do with during his journey to Olympic glory. “What we need is an elite training centre for gladiators; what we have is for dinosaurs,” coach Salman told Dawn at a training session last month.

For the proud family, back in Arshad’s hometown of Mian Channu, politics did nothing to dull the unbridled joy on display, as family members danced to the beat of the dhol and fed each other mithai almost as sweet as Arshad’s victory.

Thousands of kilometres away in Paris, Arshad shared his joy as he took a victory lap around the venue, the Pakistan flag doubling as his superhero’s cape.

He posed for selfies with fellow Punjabis in the crowd from the other side of the border and signed autographs for starry-eyed children, before succumbing to emotions and sobbed into the embrace of Pakistani officials in the stands.

For any mere mortal, the heady rush of overnight fame may have been too much to handle, but it seems Arshad hasn’t let it get to him one bit. After spending the day fielding media queries and giving interviews to news outlets from around the globe, the attention didn’t change his stride as he stepped onto the podium.

Standing alongside his main competition — India’s Neeraj Chopra who claimed the silver medal — he seemed ecstatic, but at peace.

The Pakistan-India rivalry was put aside as both South Asians embraced each other for yet another historic photo opportunity. It helped that even Neeraj’s mother was rooting for Arshad.

“Neeraj Chopra is like a son to me. I prayed for him too,” Arshad’s mother Raziah Parveen said, while Saroj Devi was equally happy with her son’s silver since it was “my child” Arshad who had bagged gold.

Are there other Arshads in the country? “Yes, he has two little ones at home,” Butt had guffawed in an earlier exchange with Dawn prior to Paris, referring to Arshad’s two older children.

But will it be another 32 years till we see a champion like Arshad reach the sporting zenith? Will Arshad’s win awaken the national consciousness beyond the mandatory 72 hours of fame and will the lofty promises being made today be honoured?

These are all valid questions, and there is no better time than the present — when the whole country is wrapped up in Olympic rapture — to get a satisfying answer.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024