The father-in-law of Arshad Nadeem, the Pakistani Olympic champion, has decided to gift the javelin thrower a buffalo on his return home.
Muhammad Nawaz told local media in Nadeem’s village on Sunday that giving a buffalo as a gift is considered “very valuable” and “honorable” in their village.
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“Nadeem is also very proud of his roots and despite his success, his village is still his home and he still lives with his parents and brothers,” said Nawaz.
Nadeem won the javelin throw in Paris with a Record at the Olympic Games of 92.97 metres, relegating Indian Neeraj Chopra to second place.
Hailing from the rural area of Khanewal in Punjab, Nadeem had very limited resources to train and travel abroad for competitions. His villagers and relatives donated money to enable him to compete abroad at a young age.
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Nawaz showered praise on his son-in-law and said, “When he comes to our house, he never complains about anything and eats whatever is available at our house.” Nadeem is very humble and respectful towards everyone, said his father-in-law.
He said despite being a financially disadvantaged youth, he decided Nadeem was the right man for his daughter Ayseha after seeing him training in the village fields. His hunger to succeed in sports said a lot about his willpower, Nawaz recalled. Today, his daughter and the sports star are parents of three children.
“Two of his children are now studying at the local primary school in the village, while one of his sons is still very young,” Nawaz was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency to local media.
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“When we decided to marry our daughter to Nadeem six years ago, he was doing small jobs and running errands but was extremely passionate about his sport and was constantly practicing javelin throwing at home and in the fields,” said Nawaz.
