Arshad Nadeem: Son Of Construction Worker, Who Struggled To Buy Food, Is Now Pakistan's Olympic Hero

When Pakistan's national sports board was deciding who to finance among the seven athletes bound for the Paris Olympics, only Arshad Nadeem and his coach were deemed good enough for funds. Nadeem and his coach Salman Fayyaz Butt were the lucky ones to have their air tickets financed by PSB (Pakistan Sports Board). On Thursday, the 27-year-old from Khanewal village in the Punjab region repaid the faith with an Olympic record and the country's first individual gold at the biggest sporting stage on the planet.

It has been a tale of quiet resolve for Nadeem, whose family struggled to even buy food of their choice. The ace javelin thrower was the third of seven siblings with their father being a construction worker. Given the father was the sole breadwinner, the family would get to eat meat only once a year, during Eid al-Adha, revealed a report in Al Jazeera quoting his older brother Shahid Azeem.

On early Friday (IST), the 6'3" man certainly accumulated the entire struggle of his life to send the spear to 92.97m in a jaw-dropping performance. It also helped Nadeem shatter the previous Olympic record of 90.57m and boss a field that also featured his good friend but fierce rival from across the border Neeraj Chopra.

The defending champion Indian had to be content with a silver medal this time despite a season's best performance of 89.45m. The 26-year-old is yet to cross the 90m mark in his career and that seems to be now playing on his mind in competitions.

While Chopra was among the most well-looked-after athletes in the field, Nadeem had seen a time when he didn't have the funds to even buy a javelin for himself.

"People have no idea how Arshad got to this place today. How his fellow villagers and relatives used to donate