Arshad Nadeem gains over 200k Instagram followers after smashing Olympic record

ISLAMABAD: Arshad Nadeem, who recently clinched the gold medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw final at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has seen a dramatic surge in his Instagram following.

His official account, under the handle ‘arshadnadeem29,’ gained more than 200,000 new followers following his historic victory. As of 1:40 pm on Friday, Nadeem’s follower count had surged to 385,000 in less than 12 hours.

The rise in his follower count shows no sign of slowing, with an average increase of around 1,000 followers every two minutes as of 2:20 pm. At this rate, it is anticipated that Nadeem will soon exceed 500,000 followers.

Previously, Nadeem’s account had 170,000 followers, highlighting the dramatic impact of his Olympic success.

In the Men’s Javelin Throw final, India’s Neeraj Chopra won the silver medal, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters secured the bronze.

Chopra’s mother, Saroj Devi, praised both her son’s achievement and Nadeem’s performance. She described Chopra’s silver medal as “like gold” and expressed admiration for Nadeem’s hard work and victory.

Nadeem’s impressive throw of 92.97 metres (305 feet) not only earned him the gold medal but also set a new Olympic record, marking Pakistan’s first Olympic gold medal in over three decades.

The last time Pakistan won gold was at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, when the field hockey team triumphed over West Germany. The country’s most recent Olympic medal was a bronze, won by the field hockey team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.