The hallmark of a well-executed sporting event lies in the host city’s cultural and sociopolitical fabric blanketing the games in a warm welcome.

As the 35th National Games returned to Karachi after 18 years, athletes and spectators alike were reminded of how quintessentially Karachi it was. Dust coated every available surface, cool mornings gave way to blistering December afternoons, fights broke out on court and on field to background commentary of “oye yaar!”

But the games were also a microcosm of the religio-cultural amalgamation Karachi has been moulded into. The opening ceremony showcased faces and skin tones of every ethnicity in Pakistan, as thousands of athletes grinned and waved to the cameras, speaking in tongues known to their teammates but not the next. Punjabi athletes stole the show when they took literal centre-stage in the jhumar dance, as their Sindhi counterparts cheered on.

Any sport on any given day boasted the past, present and future of international athletes. National gem Arshad Nadeem explicitly said to a dozen or so media channels that this was where it all began for him, that the National Games were a springboard to his future success, which has so far crescendoed at Olympic gold and an Olympic record. 

The 35th National Games had the cream of the country’s athletes prove their mettle in Karachi in the hopes of potentially moving onwards and upwards to the international stage

Watching him launch his javelin to national gold was Shabana Akhtar, Pakistan’s first female Olympian at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She holds the record for the most number of medals at any national games — eight gold and one silver.

Over on the track was Olympian Faiqa Riaz, who went on to win four golds in both track and field events, while Pakistan’s fastest man, Shajjar Abbas, watched from the sidelines as rehab from an injury marred his prowess at the games. Then there were younger athletes, who had perhaps not fully comprehended the kind of international stardom that awaited them as they revelled in the joy of their first national medals. 

There was an atmosphere of support and camaraderie only known to athletes and those who have had the privilege of being in the world of sports. Athletes cheering on friends from opposing teams to better their time, to lift heavier, to run faster. Ferocious faces at the start line giving way to hugs and high-fives at the finish. 

For some, like Ali Aslam, it was a full-circle moment to coach Wapda’s weightlifting team to national gold, which he modestly passed over — “this is all because of their hard work and Allah’s blessings.” He dedicated 20 years to the sport as an athlete before an injury forced him to retire while preparing for the South Asian Games in 2004. One hour in the weightlifting auditorium told you that this sporting community was more like family than competitors.

Meanwhile, international weightlifter Hanzala Dastagir Butt was chasing gold and a Commonwealth Games record just as his brother had done three years ago. 

“People have this misconception that after a woman gets pregnant and gives birth, they need to retire from sports,” Wapda’s Nadia Maqsood said after winning gold at her third national games, her eight-year-old son watching her in awe. “That’s not the case at all.”  

For badminton star and Olympian Mahoor Shahzad, winning her third national title wasn’t as challenging as learning how to juggle motherhood and intense training. The photo she posted on social media of her one-year-old daughter in one arm reaching out for her massive trophy in the other was symbolic of women’s strength and determination in sports despite the challenges they face.

Swimmers like 13-year-old Riah Mirza won two gold medals as three generations of her family looked on — brother, parents and grandmother. The advent of men being able to watch women’s swimming was something strictly disallowed when Riah’s mother Shaan Kandawalla swam at the first national championships 30 years ago, after she and other young women spearheaded women’s competitive swimming in Pakistan. 

Ali Oosman was the youngest medal winner on the men’s side in the 400m Individual Medley, winning bronze in the same event his father was national champion in before he began his coaching career, which has produced some of Pakistan’s best swimmers. Twelve-year-old Zoya Hafiz was a live example, as she bagged her first, second and third national medals in the span of an hour on the penultimate day of swimming.

Prodigy Kainat Khalil won bronze in the 10,000m at just nine years of age, to applause and commentary to match her feat as she crossed the finish line. Her triumph was exemplary until the ethics and safety of adolescent athletes was highlighted, and she was barred from running the 5,000m a few days later. While the risks are understood and well-meaning, the fact that her age wasn’t flagged when she was entered into the race speaks to an organisational shortfall that the tearful nine-year-old could not comprehend. 

And then there was Asim Qureshi, who proved that age was just a number, when he won silver in the men’s table tennis doubles at 69 years of age. 

Records tumbled as Hamza Asif broke Rayan Awan’s freshly made 50m breaststroke record, but the Britain-based 16-year-old Rayan smashed his own 100m national record a day later in ultimate redemption. For some like Faryal Farooq, breaking the national discus record was four years in the making.

The string of fights and lack of disciplinary action also seemed quintessentially Pakistani; such behavior abroad would earn you a ban from the sport or removal from the match. 

But all political slants and organisational shortfalls aside, the athletes were there to compete and give it their best despite the heat and event delays and fights and technical malfunctions. For most of them, the National Games were the only major opportunity to compete this year and potentially move onwards and upwards to the international stage.

It was what the Pakistan Olympic Association President Arif Saeed called “the Olympics of Pakistan.” The nation will have to wait and see how many of these athletes make it from the coast of Karachi to the west coast of the US for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The writer is a multimedia sports journalist at Dawn

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 21st, 2025