On Arshad Nadeem's Silver Medal At World Athletics Championships, Wasim Akram's 'Worth More Than A Gold' Bombshell
Arshad Nadeem won the silver medal as Neeraj Chopra clinched gold at the World Athletics Championships men's javelin final.
It was a historic gold medal for India's Neeraj Chopra in World Athletics Championships 2023 men's javelin final with Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem finishing second. While Neeraj won the gold with a 88.17m throw in his second attempt, Nadeem came up with a season best throw of 87.82m. In the aftermath of the event, Pakistan cricket team legend Wasim Akram took to social media to laud his attempts and point out the lack of infrastructural support for Nadeem. Akram said that in some ways, the silver medal is 'worth more than gold' as Nadeem does not get the same facilities as his fellow top athletes.
"Take a bow Arshad Nadeem… the whole Pakistan is celebrating your silver medal … worth more than a gold … in World Athletics Championship. Why I said it's worth more than a gold is that you don't get the top level facilities other athletes get, but you still excelled. So pleasing that we are celebrating achievement other than in cricket!," he posted on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Take a bow Arshad Nadeem… the whole Pakistan is celebrating your silver medal … worth more than a gold … in World Athletics Championship. Why I said it's worth more than a gold is that you don't get the top level facilities other athletes get, but you still excelled. So… pic.twitter.com/sG6ZA9alNw
— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) August 28, 2023
In another first, three Indians finished in top eight with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots respectively. Never before did three Indians finish in top eight of an event in the World Championships.
The 25-year-old Chopra achieved his best throw of the day in his second attempt. He had a foul to start with, but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73m and 83.98m.
Pakistan's reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season's best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic got the bronze.
(With PTI inputs)