Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem wins gold, Indian trollers call for his dope test

NEW DELHI: In an Olympics finale that could only be described as “throwing” the rulebook out the window, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem launched a javelin a whopping 92.97 meters, bagging gold and leaving India’s Neeraj Chopra with a silver—and Indian Twitter ablaze with conspiracy theories and some good ol’ neighbourly love.

Nadeem’s record-shattering throw, the sixth-longest in Olympic history, has left many Indian netizens scratching their heads—and furiously typing demands for a dope test. A user @VoyagerMan26 tweeted, “Nadeem’s best-ever win was 90.18 m in 2022. He averaged between 87-88 m in the last 3 years. Qualified for the finals with approximately 87 m throw. Suddenly he threw 92.97 meters in the finals. Very suspicious. Dope test with extra scrutiny is a must.”

Nadeem’s best ever win was 90.18 m in 2022.
He averaged between 87-88 m in the last 3 years.
Qualified for the finals with approximately 87 m throw.
Suddenly he threw 92.97 meters in the finals.
Very suspicious.

Dope test with extra scrutiny is a must.

— Voyager Man (@VoyagerMan26) August 8, 2024

And that’s just the beginning. @Neha_JainModel chimed in with a simple yet direct plea to the Olympic officials writing, “Disqualify this player soon.” But the internet, ever the fountain of wisdom, didn’t stop there. @SDimbaka even played fortune-teller, confidently predicting, “Nadeem to fail the dope test for using drugs.” 

@Olympics perform Dope test for Arshad Nadeem. Disqualify this player soon.

— Neha Jain (@Neha_JainModel) August 8, 2024

To all those Indians who wants Dope Test for Arshad Nadeem, ” HAVE SOME SHAME “.

Neeraj Chopra would never like this behaviour, lets show some respect to our opponent. Lets show some Grace, we are still in ” Silver Medal Position”, lets accept our fate and move on😔

Jai Hind 🇮🇳

— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) August 8, 2024

The debate didn’t just stop at performance-enhancing drugs but, some users have begun theorizing that maybe Nadeem’s javelin was 100 grams lighter. Or, better yet, that he had put on an extra 100 grams for that crucial edge.

Prediction – nadeem to fail dope test for using drugs

— Saahasam Saayara Dimbaka (@SDimbaka) August 7, 2021

Arshad Nadeem ka 100 gram weight jyada hai and uske Javelin throw ka wait 100 gram kam #ArshadNadeem #NeerajChopra #JavelinThrow

— Ajay Surya (@ajaysurya37) August 8, 2024

Since Vinesh Phogat was disqualified because of her extra 100 grams the trolling gang used that in their tweets. One such user @ajaysurya37 wrote, “Arshad Nadeem ka 100-gram weight jyada hai and uske javelin ka weight 100-gram kam.” 

Nadeem ka bhala 100 gram halka hai 🤣🤣

— Abhishek pandey (@Abhishe79459720) August 8, 2024

Despite all the online drama, Neeraj Chopra, ever the gentleman, graciously accepted his silver medal, acknowledging that it was Nadeem’s day. And in a heartwarming gesture, Neeraj’s mother added, “Gold is also ours; Nadeem is also our son.”