By Fatima Ghufran (Pakistan)

It’s been a few weeks since 8th August, 2024 but Pakistanis are nowhere over the history made in the grounds of State De France; Paris Olympics 2024; and rightfully so! The record breaking throw of 92.97M not only set new records but also came as a fresh breeze to the Pakistani Sports as well as ending a four decades long gold medal hiatus. The luminary was seen celebrating with an emotional sajda (prostration) and breaking down in the arms of Former Chairman Athletics Federation Akram Sahi. The heartwarming moment was captured by the cameras of the whole world and stood as a testament to the difficult journey undertaken by the Olympic Champion to have reached this winning moment.

The ecstatic win of Arshad Nadeem while being a joyful celebratory instance, also raised several questions on the lack of support received by Nadeem prior to winning the Olympics. Not even the grand award of Rs.150 Million by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif can overshadow thealmost non-existent support by the government.

Just a few months before the Olympics 2024 took place, Nadeem was struggling to buy a new javelinhaving bought the first one in 2015. Due to its deterioration, it was unfit for use. India’s NeerajChopra and the runner up in Men’s Javelin in Olympics 2024, stepped in and urged the Pakistan Government to support Arshad in buying a new javelin which led to the PCB allegedly sponsoring the buying of the new javelin.

This dearth of support goes even deeper. Nadeem has also given his statement on this, “Despite the immense talent in our country, many potential stars are unable to shine due to the lack of proper grounds and facilities.” In his interview with ARY three years ago, he showed his home-made cement weights which were the main equipment available to him for training. Later on, he was able to train in the severely under-equipped gymnasium of Punjab University under the supervision of his Coach Salman Butt.

If only the Government pays attention, the challenges faced by Arshad are not uncommon, and in fact are the same faced by every athlete in the country. It is unjustified to claim the win of an athlete as the Government’s if it has not supported the entire journey in the first place. Arshad’s win has elated the nation, but has also uncovered the naked truth. Javelin is only one of the sports in Pakistan. The fact of athletes not being supportedby the Government is applicable to all other sports in Pakistan. These sports include but are not limited to hockey, tennis, and squash. Take it from the celebrated Hockey goalkeeper Shahid Khan, “ Hockey is a dying sport in Pakistan”. He also highlighted, “The problem with Pakistan hockey is that it has really almost continuously been on a decline for the past 20-25 years. There are multiple reasons behind it: Bad management, lack of hard work, insufficient funds, shrinking of the player pool. The government’s decision to stop giving jobs to hockey players came as the last nail in the coffin.” Paris Olympics 2024 witnessed Pakistan losing in hockey. It has been a devastating four decades since Pakistan last won, the win being in the Los Angeles 1984 Games.

Although hockey is fortunate enough as compared to Javelin for having the National Hockey Stadium as its main training ground, lack of focused guidance and encouragement has resulted in consistent setbacks on the hockey front.

Tennis has also faced similar shortcomings in Pakistan, with Aisam ul Haq being the only Pakistani to have ever qualified for the Grand Slam Finals. The latter has also spoken about there being little to no recognition of Tennis players, “In 2009, I ended up beating Roger Federer in doubles in Basel. And I thought, this was a big thing to do in tennis and I would be recognized back home. But that wasn’t the case.”

Arshad Nadeem’s win has undoubtedly boosted the morale of Pakistanis and budding athletes. However, it has also uncovered once again, the scanty availability of training grounds, expert guidance, specific training equipment as well as the recognition that is crucial for athletes to feel acknowledged and motivated. Let this win be a lesson for the Government to take ownership for all Pakistani sports rather than being only fixated at cricket. For the fact remains, it is not the only sport in the country and other sports also warrant equal attention in terms of monetary support, public acknowledgment as well as developing proper training grounds that comply with international training standards. Pakistan does not lack talent. The only obstacle that stands before its win across multiple sports in the world is the deficit of support.