Arshad Nadeem put Pakistan back on the map at the Olympics by shattering the Games record and winning a gold medal at the men's javelin final. The 27-year-old started off with a foul throw but his second was a monster 92.97m attempt that was well over the previous Olympic record of 90.57m. It pretty much assured him gold and while Indian defending champion Neeraj Chopra threw his season's best of 89.45m, no one was able to cross 90m on the night.

Moreover, Nadeem finished off his series of six throws with a final 91.79m attempt, which itself was more than the previous Olympic record. Nadeem is the first Pakistani to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event and the first from the country since their hockey team in 1984 to win any Olympic gold at all. He has understandably been fetted everywhere in Pakistan and he was most recently felicitated at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad for a state banquet. He revealed here that he was, incredibly, managing an injury during his record-breaking performance at the final in Paris.

“Just five minutes before I had to go to the call room (the room where athletes in track and field events gather before their names are announced and they appear on the track), I felt a pain. I told my coach. And he said, ‘kuch nahi hota, tu sher hai (there will be no issues, you are a lion,'” Nadeem revealed.

The doctor and the coach said ‘tum sher ho’

Nadeem said that he had, in fact, picked up the injury while training in Lahore before leaving for the Olympics. “I had actually picked up an injury while throwing on 21st July when we were training at Punjab Stadium. We were supposed to fly on 24th July. We (coach, doctor and myself) didn’t tell anyone," he said.

The 27-year-old said that he had felt some pain after his foul throw in his first attempt. “During the first throw, I felt some pain and the doctor applied some medicine. I told him I didn’t know if that would have any effect. The doctor also told me ‘tum sher ho’. Both the doctor and coach told me the same words.”

Nadeem said that he knew he had crossed the 90m mark as soon as the javelin left his hand on the second attempt. “In the warm-up throw, it crossed 82m then I knew I would be able to throw. But in the first throw my run-up was ruined twice. But in the second throw as soon as the javelin left my hand, I knew it was a 90+ throw. After that throw, I came to my coach and said we have gold and Olympic Record. Now let me try for world record,” Nadeem said.

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