Arshad Nadeem the athlete came in 5th place yesterday at the Olympic Games, but despite this all of Pakistan lauded him for his dedication and bravery despite having access to limited resources in order to come to the finals. Fans and celebrities on Twitter showered the athlete with praise and congratulations for working hard in order to represent the country at an international platform
Actor Sami Khan posted a picture of Arshad Nadeem along with the caption: “Proud of Arshad nadeem…Pakistan zindabad 🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰”
Politician Maryam Sharif also congratulated the athlete on his hard work and dedication that was the key to getting him into the finals: “Its not about winning or losing. It’s about getting out there and putting up a fight. That is what makes you a winner! We are all super proud of you champ!”
Its not about winning or losing. It’s about getting out there and putting up a fight. That is what makes you a winner! We are all super proud of you champ! ♥️🇵🇰#ArshadNadeem pic.twitter.com/gakkjHy2Fy
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 7, 2021
Journalist and Radio host Sabah bano Malik lauded Arshad Nadeem for his hard work and effort despite having limited access to resources that most athletes had. and still having made it this far
ARSHAD NADEEM KICKED THE BUTTS OF ATHLETES WITH MONEY SUPPORT FACILITIES AND ACCESS AND HE HELD HIS OWN LIKE A STAR AND HE WILL BRING US HERE AGAIN !!!!!!! 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑
— Sabah Malik (@sabahbanomalik) August 7, 2021
Lawyer and founder of Digital Rights Foundation Nighat Dad also congratulated the hard work athletes like Arshad Nadeem and Talha Talib put in despite having limited resources to come this far, and also pointed out that it is the government’s responsibility to provide funding and institutional support to athletes in order for them to give their best performance out there
#ArshadNadeem & #TalhaTalib gave their best in #Tokyo2020 #Olympics & brought much needed joy to Pakistanis. It’s govt’s job to give all these athletes institutional support, funding & everything they require to keep the #Pakistani flag high. So far they did wonders on their own. pic.twitter.com/UEEiJQI1cH
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) August 7, 2021
Fans on Twitter also pointed out the stark difference in the training facilities that were provided to Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra. Hassan Cheema posted in a tweet a paragraph from an article which revealed that Arshad was from a village and his father who is a mason, was the one who funded his training and the equipment he needed, and the athlete received most of his training in Lahore. While Neeraj Chopra was given proper facilities by the Indian government to provide him with the best training available in Europe
Two different ways of doing things. pic.twitter.com/ySwNChU5E1
— Hassan Cheema (@mediagag) August 7, 2021
However, some fans pointed out how Arshad Nadeems win is already encouraging children to dream big in order to reach to international places like he did. A fan of the athlete shared this wholesome video on Twitter where some children were seen trying to practice javelin like the athlete
This is the impact of one athlete perfomrming in olympics its not that our ppl don’t like anything other than cricket but the support is only diverted towards one sport. If given a proper support & attention every sport in 🇵🇰 can grow.
— Naveer (@NaveerBinRazi) August 8, 2021
@ArshadNaadeem you’ve earned some young fans pic.twitter.com/QGLlz2BKUv
So let’s all remember that before you think about calling Arshad nadeem a failure, please remember that despite having no support from authorities and having to fund his training all on his own, he did come this far. Let’s hope that this leads us to encouraging authorities to fund our athletes and ensure that we support their dreams to represent us internationally some day.