‘I compete against myself’: Meet Pakistan’s Olympic javelin thrower | Paris Olympics 2024

Around this time, Shahid started working as a police officer while his eldest brother joined the army.

They urged Nadeem to pursue javelin throwing. “He has always been a shy, quiet person who often keeps to himself. We both knew that he liked the sport but never spoke about it publicly,” Shadid said. “We told him, ‘Do not worry about money. We have jobs. We can support our home.’”

With Pakistan’s sports structure revolving around public sector organisations that offer employment opportunities to talented athletes, Nadeem’s athletic exploits generated attention locally, and various departments sought him out a few years later.

In 2015, an army representative came calling. “I flat out refused them,” Saqi recalled. “I told him, ‘Your training will ruin my athlete.’” He was worried about Nadeem doing both army and sports training.

“He is basically working extra hard without any recovery period. You cannot force or flog a player and say working for long hours is part of training,” Saqi explained.

Saqi, who trained Nadeem until 2015, still maintains close ties with the athlete.

Saqi believes the most important factor behind Nadeem’s success is his humility and said he has not been “tainted” by fame or money.

“He displays no arrogance or pride. When he comes to Mian Channu to see me, he makes sure he walks behind me. He ensures he opens the doors for me and waits till I sit,” Saqi said.

Recalling an incident from a few years ago, the hotel owner said Nadeem was at a training camp in Islamabad when Saqi was taken to the hospital for a heart complication.

“Somehow, he found out, and he left the camp to come and see me within a day’s notice. I had to scold him, despite my health, telling him to go back to training,” Saqi recalled with a chuckle.

Nadeem refers to Saqi as his “spiritual father”. A decade ago, when he did not even know specific spikes for javelin throwers existed, let alone owned them, it was Saqi who bought him his first pair.

The athlete also said it was thanks to Saqi that he secured employment at the sports department of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), a government-owned public utility that pays him a monthly retainer.

“WAPDA was holding trials for its sports department when Saqi sahib arranged for my entry there, and I managed to throw 56 metres [184ft] there, which made everyone pay attention,” Nadeem recalled.

Within two months of joining WAPDA, Nadeem, then 18, became Pakistan’s 2015 national champion.

“We were down to the sixth and the last throw, and by that time, I was fifth in the competition with an army athlete having thrown 69 metres [226ft]. Everybody thought that the competition was over. But somehow, I managed to push myself and threw a 70-metre [300ft] throw, which got me the gold medal,” Nadeem recounted with a brief, shy smile.

Nadeem was then selected for the 2016 South Asian Games in India, his first international competition.

The sporting event, which took place in Guwahati, India, was also the first time Nadeem competed against the then-emerging Indian star Neeraj Chopra.

Nadeem, who went into the tournament with a niggle in his throwing elbow, still managed a throw of 78.33 metres (257ft), winning his first international medal, a bronze, with Chopra securing gold.

“The previous Pakistani record lasted for nearly two decades, so I was very pleased with my effort,” Nadeem reflected.