ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz to Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem.
The president honoured Arshad Nadeem with the civilian award at a prestigious ceremony at President House in recognition of his achievement in javelin throw.
Nadeem struck gold in the recent Paris Olympics by throwing javelin at a distance of 92.97 meters. He made history by achieving the first individual gold medal in Olympics for Pakistan.
President Zardari also announced Rs100 million reward for Nadeem.
Soon after the achievement, President Asif Ali Zardari announced that he would confer the prestigious Hilal-e-Imtiaz on athlete Arshad Nadeem for his performance in Paris Olympics 2024 in the category of javelin throw.
“The President will confer the civil award upon Arshad Nadeem during a special ceremony to be held in recognition of his prominent performance in sports. The President will confer the civil award under Article 259 (2) of the Constitution,” President Secretariat's Press Wing said in a press release.
President Zardari said Arshad Nadeem, with his brilliant performance, had made the nation proud in the field of sports.
"Nadeem’s marvellous achievement at the international level brought laurels to the nation. He has raised the name of country in athletics," reads the letter shared by President Secretariat's Press Wing with the media.
PAKISTAN'S MOMENT OF PRIDE
Arshad Nadeem shattered the Olympic record with a humongous 92.97m throw in javelin final to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Arshad Nadeem bacame the first individual Olympic gold medallist from Pakistan. He broke the previous Olympic record of 90.57 - set in 2008 Beijing Olympics by Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen.
A scintillating gold medal was awarded to Nadeem at a ceremony held at Champions Park near Eiffel Tower where medals were also distributed among the winners of the 13th day of Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra came up with a season best throw of 89.45m to clinch silver. Grenada's Anderson Peters fetched the bronze medal with a throw of 88.54m.