"all the plot announcements were fake"
Pakistan’s Olympic javelin champion Arshad Nadeem has claimed that the land rewards promised to him by authorities were never delivered.
Nadeem made history in August 2024 when he won gold at the Paris Olympics with a record-breaking 92.97-metre throw, beating India’s Neeraj Chopra.
The feat, achieved at the Stade de France, earned him widespread acclaim across Pakistan and a series of announcements of rewards, including cash and land.
However, Arshad Nadeem said he only received the cash.
He said: “Out of all the prize announcements made for me, all the plot announcements were fake, which I did not receive.
“Apart from that, I have received all the cash prizes that were announced.”
Following his Olympic triumph, both government bodies and private organisations had announced prizes. However, Nadeem’s revelation now casts doubt over how athletes are treated after delivering historic performances.
Despite the broken promises, the 28-year-old, who is currently training for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September, said he remains committed to developing the next generation of javelin talent.
Nadeem added: “My entire focus is on myself, but apart from that, we train any youth who comes to us for training, and this training is given by my coach Salman Butt.”
Before the Tokyo meet, Nadeem is expected to return to action at the Diamond League event in Silesia, Poland, on August 16.
If confirmed, the event will mark his first head-to-head encounter with Neeraj Chopra since their clash in Paris last summer.
Injury kept Nadeem out of the Doha and Paris legs of this year’s Diamond League. He also turned down an invitation from Chopra to participate in the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru earlier this month.
Chopra, who had taken Olympic gold in Tokyo 2021, was forced to settle for silver in Paris after Nadeem’s career-best throw.
Since then, he has broken the 90-metre barrier for the first time, doing so in Doha, and has gone on to win both the Paris Diamond League and the NC Classic.
Nadeem’s return to competition is highly anticipated, with fans eager to witness another elite showdown between South Asia’s two top javelin stars.
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