“A mother is a mother for everyone, so she prays for everyone too. I’m grateful to Neeraj Chopra’s mother. She’s my mother too. She prayed for us, and we were just two players from South Asia who performed on the world stage,” Nadeem told Pakistani media after returning home to a hero’s welcome in the early hours of Sunday.
Nadeem’s historic victory in the javelin throw at the Paris Olympics, marked by a record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters, earned him a grand homecoming.Hundreds of cheering fans greeted him at the airport, celebrating not just his Olympic gold but also Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in over three decades, its first gold in forty years.
Earlier, Raziah Parveen, Nadeem’s mother, expressed her affection for Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra, whom she described as both a friend and a brother to her son. “Woh bhi mere bete jaisa hai. Woh Nadeem ka dost bhi hai, bhai bhi hai (He is like a son to me. He is Nadeem’s friend and also like a brother),” Parveen shared with Pakistani media, revealing that she had been praying for both athletes’ success.
The spirit of mutual respect and support was echoed by Neeraj Chopra’s mother, Saroj Devi, who expressed joy over her son’s silver medal while acknowledging Nadeem’s gold as a victory for a “child”. “We are very happy with the silver; the one who got gold is also our child,” Saroj Devi said.
Neeraj Chopra, who secured the silver medal with a throw of 89.45 meters, had earlier advocated for better support for Nadeem from the Pakistani government during the latter’s woes with damaged javelin.
