Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra’s mother praised Pakistani Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem — who defeated her son to win the gold medal in the ongoing edition of the game in Paris — and won hearts by calling the competitor from the other side of the border as her son.
“I am happy with the silver, the guy who got gold (Arshad Nadeem) is also my child. Everyone goes there after doing a lot of hard work,” Saroj Devi was quoted as saying in Ary News.
Nadeem ended Pakistan’s 32-year-old medal hunt by bagging the gold medal in the Paris Olympics, while Indian star Chopra, who was defending his title, settled for silver.
Pakistan last won an Olympic medal in 1992 when the hockey team clinched bronze.
The Pakistani javelin thrower became the first individual gold medalist for the country.
Arshad Nadeem also set a new Olympic Record with a throw of 92.97m.
Neeraj, who won gold at the Tokyo Summer Games three years back, registered a huge throw of 89.34 metres in Group B of the men’s javelin throw qualification round at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday and made his way into the finals.
Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who breached the 90m mark at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, had also qualified for the javelin throw final with his season-best throw of 86.59 m.
