If there's any other sport apart from cricket where people from both India and Pakistan leave everything and are glued to the television screens, it is the javelin throw. With both-- Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem and India's Neeraj Chopra creating histories individually on August 9, 2024, the javelin throw has become a new popular sport in the rival neighbouring countries. For the unversed, on August 9th, Arshad Nadeem created a new world record by throwing the javelin at a distance of 92.
97m (breaking the previous world record of 90.57 meters) and winning gold for it and Neeraj Chopra won a silver for throwing at a distance of 89.45m at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
And while they might be rivals on-field, their off-field friendship is what has caught people's attention and brought people closer across the India-Pak border. Paris Olympics 2024: Neeraj Chopra Wins Silver, Pak's Arshad Nadeem Breaks Record | 'Also Our Son' Nadeem and Neeraj are pop-cultures' new favourite brothers from different mothers. Not only do they share their passion for javelin, but they also have quite a few similarities-- be it their humble upbringings in small villages across the border, or the challenges they have faced on their professional journeys.
While Neeraj was born into a family of farmers in Haryana's Khandar village, Nadeem was born to Muhammad Ashraf-- who works as a mason in Pakistan's village Mian Channu. The duo are also almost of the same age-- born just a few months apart-- who have now creat.