Arshad Nadeem clinches historic gold in Paris, shatters Olympic record

Arshad Nadeem wins gold in Javelin Throw.
Nadeem breaks Olympic record.
Pakistan's first Olympic gold in 32 years.

Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan secured the gold medal in the Javelin Throw final at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Thursday. Nadeem's second attempt saw him launch an impressive 92.97-meter throw, which was enough to claim the top spot.

This victory marks Pakistan's first Olympic medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games, where their national hockey team won bronze. Nadeem finished the night with another remarkable throw of 91.79 meters on his final attempt.

Even Nadeem's last throw would have broken the previous Olympic record held by Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen (90.57 meters in Beijing 2008) if Nadeem hadn't already surpassed it earlier in the final.

This achievement represents Pakistan's first-ever individual Olympic gold, the nation's first in athletics, and their first gold in any event in the past 40 years.

In other results, India's Neeraj Chopra, who was defending his title, secured the silver medal with a throw of 89.45 meters, while Grenada's Anderson Peters earned the bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters.

Neeraj Chopra narrowly missed making history with a second consecutive gold medal, despite achieving his second-best career throw of 89.45 meters on his second attempt. Arshad Nadeem's two throws over 90 meters, including a new Olympic record, proved unbeatable.

Chopra, 26, now joins an elite group of Indian athletes as a two-time Olympic medalist, adding this silver to his Tokyo 2020 gold. Only Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu, and Manu Bhaker have accomplished similar feats, with Bhaker winning two bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.