Arshad Nadeem, on Thursday, became Pakistan's first medal winner at the Olympics since 1992 Barcelona as he snatched the gold medal in the men's javelin throw final at the Paris Games with an Olympic-record-breaking throw of 92.97m. Neeraj Chopra finished second as he became India's first track-and-field athlete to win two Olympic medals. But keeping aside the individual feats, the athletes together carved out a sensational piece of Olympic history.

Neeraj was expected to dominate the night, especially after his stunning show in the qualification round earlier this week, where he hurled a season-best throw of 89.43m to top the field across the two groups. But the 26-year-old, battling injury concerns, struggled to put on a worthy show of retaining his crown as he managed just one legitimate throw of 89.45m, the second-best attempt in his career, which was enough to secure him the silver.

Neeraj, hence, became the fifth double-Olympic-medallist after Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker and the third athlete besides Sushil and Sindhu to win medals at two separate Summer Games.

As Neeraj seemed disappointed for overrunning the white line twice, Arshad rose to the occasion to not only bag the gold medal but also hurled two throws worthy enough to break the Olympic record. His first, of 92.97m, on his second attempt, saw him roar past the previous feat of 90.57m, owned by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in the 2008 Beijing Games. He eventually wrapped up the competition with another gigantic throw of 91.79m.

However, the two good friends became the first Asian pair to score a 1-2 finish in the men's javelin at the Olympics, thus ending a long-standing European supremacy. Of the 27 editions of the men's javelin at the Games, Europeans have finished top two together on 21 occasions. USA's Cy Young and Bill Miller broke the streak in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, becoming the first non-European duo to finish 1-2 in the discipline.

Neeraj eventually summed up the competition, which was, in the end, all about him versus Nadeem, as "the greatest javelin throw competition."

"Javelin is not popular in India and Pakistan. I know Arshad Nadeem worked very hard, it's a great news for him and for the people in Pakistan. He deserved to win tonight, we're both making our countries proud," he added.

The Neeraj-Nadeem duo

Six years back, a heartwarming picture of the two had gone viral on social media after Neeraj and Nadeem finished 1-3 on the podium. The two had their flags wrapped around their bodies as he bowed and shook hands. And thus began an on-field rivalry and an off-field friendship.

Over the next three years, Nadeem failed to emulate his Asiad show in Jakarta, but he remained within touching distance, which included an agonising miss out on the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics for the Pakistani. But when the 27-year-old bounced back, with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Neeraj missed out owing to an injury and missed his dear friend.

Later, in 2023, they were back together in the men's javelin draw and the duo finished 1-2 with a difference of just 0.35m between their best attempts. Neeraj took the gold, and Arshad bagged the silver. The latter went on to wish for a similar at the Olympics, and irrespective of how and what unfolded on Thursday evening in Paris, it was a win-win for India and Pakistan.

But more than Neeraj's remark, his mother won the hearts with the perfect statement after the final. Speaking to ANI, she said: "We are very happy. For us, silver is also equal to gold. The one who got the gold (Arshad) is also like our son."

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