Everyone knows what you get when you are faster, higher or stronger than anyone else at the Olympics. A gold medal.
And if you are lucky, maybe also some money — and in some places, a buffalo or a free colonoscopy.
Pakistan has been sending athletes to the Olympics since 1948 and, before this year, had won three gold medals, all in men’s field hockey. But individual gold had been elusive. And the country had qualified only seven athletes for the 2024 Games.
One of them was the javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, who had placed second a year ago in the World Athletics Championships and was a serious contender to win.