Neeraj vs Nadeem: An India-Pak rivalry minus the toxicity

Power shift in sport as duo finish 1-2 at World Championship

- NIHAL KOSHIE

AS NEERAJ CHOPRA and Arshad Nadeem made track and field history by finishing one-two in the javelin throw at the World Championship, a new India-Pakistan sporting rivalry was born that lacks the edge of a cricket game between the two neighbours. The morning the video of Chopra calling out his long-time friend from across the border Nadeem for a celebratory frame at the arena where they left the rest of the world behind went viral, the usual toxicity that follows a close cricket encounter between India and Pakistan was missing.

Nadeem's coach and Pakistan's five-time national javelin throw champion Syed Hussain Bukhari spoke about the power-shift in the sport with the emergence of the subcontinent as the new hub of world-class javelin throwers.

India's Kishore Jena finished fifth, followed by DP Manu. "India has three throwers but javelin throw is also picking up in Pakistan. Recently, Muhammad Yasir won a bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships. We are also leaving no stone unturned in unearthing the next Nadeem. Both Chopra and Nadeem are role models. Every second athlete wants to be a javelin thrower. Both countries are now working hard to become a force in javelin and in Budapest we saw the result," Bukhari says.