Arshad Nadeem, the first Pakistan athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics, has hit out at the 'fake' prize promises that were made to him after he beat India's Neeraj Chopra to take the top place in the podium in Paris last year. Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won gold in javelin throw with an attempt of 92.97 meters, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark's Andreas Thorkildsen's mark from Beijing 2008. Chopra fell short and won the silver medal with a best throw of 89.45 meters.
"Out of all the prize announcements made to me, all the plot announcements were fake, which I did not receive. Apart from that, I have received all the cash prizes that were announced," Nadeem told Geo TV.
Nadeem has suffered a "hamstring niggle" and he's travelling to England to treat the injury before his face-off with Indian superstar Neeraj Chopra at the Silesia Diamond League on August 16, according to sources. A source close to Nadeem said the hamstring problem forced him to skip an event in Switzerland and he is travelling to England on Monday to get the injury treated by specialists as well as prepare for the DL Meeting in Silesia, Poland.
Chopra and Nadeem will be facing each other in Silesia one year after the mouth-watering men's javelin competition in Paris on August 8, 2024, when the Pakistani had beaten the Indian for the gold with a stunning 92.97m throw.
The men's javelin duel between the reigning world champion and reigning Olympic gold medallist is set to be one of the main attractions of the Silesia DL, more so after Chopra crossed the coveted 90m mark in Doha in his first DL competition of the year on May 16.
Since the Paris Games, Chopra has participated in several competitions, including four Diamond League meetings, two other top-class events in Chorzow, Poland and Ostrava, Czech Republic, as well as the inaugural NC Classic in Bengaluru which he won as host.
The 28-year-old Nadeem, on the other hand, ended his 2024 season with the Paris Olympics gold and has taken part in just one competition so far this year. He won gold in the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on May 31 with a throw of 86.40m.
With PTI inputs