Pakistan Rewards Olympic Gold Medalist Arshad Nadeem With 250 Million Rupees For Record-breaking Throw

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif announced 150 million rupees ($538,000) for country's first-ever individual Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem at the special ceremony to honour the star athlete in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced the country's first-ever individual Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem with a total jaw-dropping amount of 150 million rupees ($897,000) on Tuesday.

Sharif announced 150 million rupees ($538,000) for Nadeem, who clinched a gold medal in javelin throw competition with olympics record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters at recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024, in order to honour the athlete in Islamabad. The announcement came hours after Punjab's chief minister Mariam Nawaz visited the 27-year-old's house in Mian Channu district to present him a cheque for 100 million rupees ($359,000).

Punjab's CM also rewarded him with a new car keys with a special registration number of PAK 92.97 to commemorate athlete's best throw at Paris Games. Nadeem's coach Salman Iqbal Butt also received five million rupees.

You have doubled the delight of 250 million Pakistanis because we'll also celebrate our Independence Day tomorrow," Sharif said while announcing the money for Nadeem, whose father is a daily wage laborer. "Today every Pakistani is happy and the morale of the whole country is sky high. The feeling is very good, Nadeem said Tuesday. I hope to stay fit and break the world record one day."

"The heights that parents' prayers take a person to," Nawaz said in her post on X while sharing a picture with Nadeem and his mother Razia Parveen.

"Seeing him on the podium waving the flag and ringing the Olympic bell was incredible," Pakistan test captain Shan Masood said in the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) podcast on Tuesday as he prepares for the test series against Bangladesh, starting August 21 in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie said Nadeem will be invited to the dressing room of the Pakistan cricket team during the first test match. Having him visit and share his gold medal with the team would be a fantastic boost, especially with the Olympic spirit still in the air, Gillespie said. It was a wonderful moment, and we extend an open invitation for him.

Nadeem also has a special postage stamp in his honour depicting his record throw. (With AP inputs)

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