Olympian Arshad Nadeem waves to people outside his village in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, Pakistan, on Aug. 11.The Associated Press
Olympic javelin gold medalist Arshad Nadeem received $359,000 from the Pakistani government on Tuesday as the country continued to celebrate his record-breaking throw at the Paris Games.
Punjab’s chief minister Mariam Nawaz visited Nadeem’s house in a village in the Mian Channu district and presented him with a cheque for 100 million rupees ($359,000).
Nawaz also handed him the keys to a new car which has a special registration number of “PAK 92.97″ to commemorate Nadeem’s throw of 92.97 meters at Paris, which was an Olympic record. Nadeem’s coach Salman Iqbal Butt was also given 5 million rupees ($18,000).
Last Thursday, Nadeem set off celebrations across Pakistan when his throw easily surpassed the previous Olympic mark of 90.57 set by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in 2008. It was also well clear of India’s Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo champion, who reached a season-best 89.45 for silver.
“Arshad Nadeem has brought unprecedented happiness to the nation,” Nawaz said in a statement.
Nadeem won Pakistan’s first Olympic gold in 40 years, when the men’s field hockey team won at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Pakistan’s last medal of any color was a field hockey bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
“The heights that parents’ prayers take a person to,” Nawaz said in her post on X, formerly known as Twitter, while sharing a picture with Nadeem and his mother Razia Parveen.
Later Tuesday, Nadeem and his family were flown to Islamabad on a special flight from Multan to attend a reception being hosted by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Last Saturday, the Pakistani government issued a special postage stamp with an image of Nadeem with his javelin in his hand in connection with Pakistan’s Independence Day, which will be celebrated on Wednesday.