Pakistan rewards javelin champion Nadeem with $897,000 for record-breaking throw at Paris Olympics

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Olympic javelin gold medalist Arshad Nadeem received a total of 250 million rupees ($897,000) on Tuesday as Pakistan continued to celebrate his record-breaking throw at the Paris Games.

Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced 150 million rupees ($538,000) for Nadeem at a special ceremony to honor the star athlete in Islamabad. Sharif's announcement came hours after Punjab’s chief minister Mariam Nawaz visited Nadeem’s house in a village in the Mian Channu district and presented him with a check for 100 million rupees ($359,000).

Nawaz also handed him the keys to a new car which has a special registration number of “PAK 92.97” to commemorate Nadeem’s throw of 92.97 meters at Paris, which was an Olympic record. Nadeem’s coach Salman Iqbal Butt was also given 5 million rupees ($18,000).

“You have doubled the delight of 250 million Pakistanis because we’ll also celebrate our Independence Day tomorrow," Sharif said while announcing the money for Nadeem, whose father is a daily wage laborer. "Today every Pakistani is happy and the morale of the whole country is sky high.”

“The feeling is very good,” Nadeem said Tuesday. “I hope to stay fit and break the world record one day.”

Last Thursday, Nadeem set off celebrations across Pakistan when his throw easily surpassed the previous Olympic mark of 90.57 set by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway in 2008. It was also well clear of India’s Neeraj Chopra, the Tokyo champion, who reached a season-best 89.45 for silver.

“Arshad Nadeem has brought unprecedented happiness to the nation,” Nawaz said in a statement.

Nadeem won Pakistan’s first Olympic gold in 40 years, when the men’s field hockey team won at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Pakistan’s last medal of any color was a field hockey bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

“The heights that parents’ prayers take a person to,” Nawaz said in her post on X, formerly known as Twitter, while sharing a picture with Nadeem and his mother Razia Parveen.

Later Tuesday, Nadeem and his family were flown to Islamabad on a special flight from Multan to attend a reception hosted by Sharif, who paid tribute to the athlete during a cabinet meeting.

“Nadeem has elevated the name of Pakistan worldwide because of his day and night hard work, parents’ prayers, and coach’s training,” Sharif said.

Pakistan is predominantly known for cricket in the sporting world with the country winning the 1992 World Cup.

“Seeing him on the podium waving the flag and ringing the Olympic bell was incredible,” Pakistan test captain Shan Masood said in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s podcast on Tuesday as he prepares for the test series against Bangladesh, starting Aug. 21 in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie said Nadeem will be invited to the dressing room of the Pakistan cricket team during the first test match.

“Having him visit and share his gold medal with the team would be a fantastic boost, especially with the Olympic spirit still in the air,” Gillespie said. “It was a wonderful moment, and we extend an open invitation for him.”

Nadeem also has a special postage stamp in his honor depicting his record throw.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Men's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, centre, waves to people outside his village in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Men's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, centre, waves to people outside his village in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Men's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem, of Pakistan Arshad Nadeem hugs his mother outside his house, in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Children of the family of Arshad Nadeem, javelin gold medalist, hold flowers outside his house for his welcome reception, in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Pakistan's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem, center, is greeted by Pakistani people and his villagers with flower garlands upon his arrival at Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Men's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem, of Pakistan poses for a photograph with his mother inside his house, in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Men's javelin gold medalist, Arshad Nadeem, of Pakistan Arshad Nadeem poses for a photograph with his mother inside his house, in Mian Channu, Khanewal district, of Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Suspicious packages were sent to election officials in at least six states on Monday, but there were no reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material.

Powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, officials in those states confirmed. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service were investigating. It marked the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple state offices.

The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states less than two months ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices around the nation, causing disruption in what is already a tense voting season.

Several of the states reported a white powder substance found in envelopes sent to election officials. In most cases, the material was found to be harmless. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. Wyoming officials have not yet said if the material sent there was hazardous.

The packages forced an evacuation in Iowa. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless.

“We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. “We immediately reported the incident per our protocols."

A state office building in Topeka, Kansas was also evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.

In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said in an email to The Associated Press. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which oversees security for the Capitol, secured the envelope. Testing determined the substance was flour, Mohr said.

State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home for the day pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.

Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.

One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.

The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase the security of their buildings and boost protections for workers amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.

Salter reported from O'Fallon, Missouri. Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

FILE - William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower stands June 22, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

The Oklahoma State Election Board Office inside the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, was one of at least five states in the U.S. which election officials received suspicious packages on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy)

The Oklahoma State Election Board Office inside the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, was one of at least five states in the U.S. which election officials received suspicious packages on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy)