Arshad Nadeem’s father-in-law will give him this ‘traditional’ gift after 2024 Paris Olympics gold

Pakistan may be gifting its Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem with cash prizes and other valuable prizes, but his father-in-law has decided to gift the burly javelin thrower a buffalo as it suits rural upbringing and tradition. Muhammad Nawaz told local media in Nadeem village on Sunday that gifting a buffalo is considered “very valuable” and “honorable” in his village. Nadeem won the javelin throw event in Paris with an Olympic Games record of 92.97 meters, pushing India’s Neeraj Chopra into second place. “Nadeem is also proud of his roots and despite his success, his home remains his village and he still lives with his parents and siblings,” said Nawaz.

The father-in-law added that he had four sons and three daughters, and that his youngest daughter, Ayesha, was married to Nadeem.

Nawaz also revealed that the couple has two sons and a daughter.

Hailing from rural Khanewal in Punjab, Nadeem had very limited means to train and travel abroad for competitions, with other villagers and family members donating money so he could compete abroad in his early days.

Nawaz also said that when he decided to marry his daughter to Nadeem, he was a man of limited resources, but he had the desire to do well in the sports for which he used to train on the village fields.

“When we decided to marry our daughter to Nadeem six years ago, at that time he was doing small jobs and running errands, but he was extremely passionate about his sport and constantly practiced javelin throwing at home and in the fields,” said Nawaz.

Nawaz added that he is very happy with Nadeem’s success and fame, adding that the javelin thrower, who became the country’s first individual medalist, has a lot of respect from everyone.

“Whenever he comes to our house he never complains about anything and eats everything in our house,” he said.

“Two of their children have started attending the local primary school in the village, while one child is still very young.”