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By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan ( AA) - Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem on Thursday won the gold medal for the country after 40 years, breaking the Olympic record with a monstrous 92.97m throw in the men’s javelin final at Paris 2024.
It was the sixth longest throw of all time, and Asia’s best ever in Olympics.
Nadeem, whose first throw was declared foul, delivered the finest performance of his career on his second attempt.
"Believe it, Nadeem. You just became Pakistan's first ever athletics Olympic champion," the official X account of Paris 2024 said.
"Pride of Pakistan," it said in another post.
Pakistan last won a gold in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics when it beat the then West Germany in the men's hockey final.
It marks 32 years since Pakistan won an Olympic medal after its hockey team clinched a bronze with a 4-3 win over the Netherlands in Barcelona in 1992.
It is also the first individual gold for Pakistan, as all of the medals have come through field hockey.
Nadeem's Indian rival Neeraj Chopra settled for a silver medal finish with an 89.45m throw on his second attempt.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters took home bronze, his first ever Olympic medal, with an 88.54m throw.
Jubilant crowds danced to the drum beats outside Nadeem's house in Mian Chunnu, a town in northeastern Punjab province, as he received the medal. Celebrations are expected across all of Pakistan.