As Arshad Nadeem wins CWG gold with new record, Neeraj Chopra rushes to congratulate

They are staunch rivals on the field and good friends off it, with a healthy respect for each other's capabilities.

India's Neeraj Chopra was among the first to congratulate as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem became the first javelin thrower from south Asia to cross the 90 metre mark.

Nadeem hurled the spear to a record-breaking distance of 90.18 metres to win the gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. It was his personal best, a Games record, and a record for the subcontinent.


The Pakistani athlete also went past Neeraj Chopra's Tokyo Olympic gold-winning throw of 87.58m, and the silver-winning World Athletics Championship throw of 88.13m. In both these events, Nadeem finished way behind Chopra.

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A post shared by Arshad Nadeem Olympian (@arshadnadeem29)

Chopra, who was in superb form in the run-up to the Games and came very close to the coveted 90 m mark, could not take part due to an injury. In his absence, India's DP Manu finished fifth with a best throw of 82.28 while Rohit Yadav finished sixth with 82.22 metres.

The Olympic star was however among the first to congratulate Nadeem. "Congratulations Arshad bhai for gold and crossing 90mtr with new games record. Aage ke competitions ke liye all the best," he replied on the Instagram post.

But then, they are not just good friends off the field, they are also staunch rivals on it. It would now be Chopra's turn to have a go at that record.