Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem calls out 'fake prize announcements' promised after Paris gold

Pakistan's Javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has called out prize promises made to him after his historic gold at the Paris Olympics 2024 as fake. Nadeem alleged that not all promised to him has been given after he became Pakistan's first ever individual gold medalist in a track and field event. Nadeem, notably, had been defending champion and arch-rival India's Neeraj Chopra to claim the gold with a throw of 92.97m at the Stade de France last August - also an Olympic record. Neeraj, meanwhile, finished second and won a silver in the contest.

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“Out of all the prize announcements made for 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,” said Nadeem as reported by local media Geo TV. The athlete, however, vowed to not let unfulfilled promised to get in the way of his preparation for the World Championship scheduled in August and said: “My entire focus is on myself, but apart from that, we train any youth who comes to us for training, and this training is given by my coach Salman Butt.”

Nadeem was not part of the recently-concluded Neeraj Chopra Classic javelin throw event held in India on July 5. The event was organized and hosted by Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra who had withdrawn his invitation to Nadeem due to political tensions which had recently escalated in aftermath of terror attack in India's Pahalgam. Nadeem, however, had said that he had already declined taking part in the tournament due to a calf injury for which he recently underwent surgery as reported by A Sports. Nadeem and Chopra are expected to face off each other in the upcoming Diamond League in Silesia, Poland, on August 16.