Nadeem threw his arms up in celebration after breaking the Olympic record on his second throw with a stunning 92.97 metres that put him sixth on the all-time list.
"When I threw the javelin, I got the feel of it leaving my hand, and sensed it could be an Olympic record, inshallah (God willing)," Nadeem said.
He knelt down and kissed the ground after Chopra’s failed last attempt sealed his victory. The Pakistani finished fifth in Tokyo, but improved to take silver at last year’s world championships.
Chopra, the strongest by far in qualifying and favourite to retain his title, struggled. His throw of 89.45, which won him the silver medal, was his only valid effort as he fouled on his five other attempts.
"I m not that happy with my performance today and also my technique and runway was not that good," said Chopra, who has struggled with a groin injury.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters took bronze with 88.54, a moment of redemption for the twice world champion who failed to make the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Peters hurled the javelin 88.54m on his fourth attempt to knock Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo, into fourth place.
Nadeem, who compared his Olympic clash with Chopra to the two nations’ rivalry in cricket, has previously said it is challenging being a non-cricket athlete in Pakistan as resources and facilities for his sport are scarce.
But if Chopra’s huge following in India since winning Olympic gold is anything to go by, Nadeem’s performance on Thursday could change that.
Chopra, who has more than nine million Instagram followers, has had a huge impact in raising the profile of athletics in India, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said on Thursday.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted after Chopra’s silver win: "Neeraj Chopra is excellence personified! Time and again he’s shown his brilliance. India is elated that he comes back with yet another Olympic success."
Peters, meanwhile, said he felt his Caribbean nation’s support.
"The entire population, 120,000 people are glued to their TV right now. Celebrating, cheering," he said.
Career of Arshad Nadeem
Arshad Nadeem won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in 2016. He also holds the national record in javelin throw.
In 2017, Arshad won his first gold medal at the South Asian Games in Guwahati.
He won a second gold medal at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu and won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Arshad Nadeem holds the record for the second-longest javelin throw in the world.
He is the first player to win a gold medal for Pakistan at the Commonwealth Games since 1962. He received this honor at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Moreover, Arshad Nadeem won the first silver medal for Pakistan at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Past Competitions between Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra
Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra first competed at the South Asian Games in Guwahati in 2016, where Neeraj Chopra finished first and Arshad Nadeem finished third.
In the same year, Neeraj won the second position and Arshad the third position in the Asian Junior Championship. In the World Under-20 Athletics Championship, Neeraj got the first position and Arshad got the 30th position.
In the 2017 Asian Athletics Championship, Neeraj Chopra secured the first position and Arshad Nadeem secured the seventh position.
In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Neeraj Chopra won the first position and Arshad Nadeem the eighth position.
In the same year, Neeraj won gold and Arshad Nadeem won bronze in the Asian Games.
In the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Neeraj Chopra won the first position and Arshad Nadeem the fifth position. In the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Neeraj secured the second position and Arshad Nadeem the fifth position.
Last time, both athletes competed in Budapest in 2023, where Neeraj won the gold medal and Arshad Nadeem the silver medal.
