Lahore prepares rousing welcome for Olympian Arshad Nadeem

• Punjab sports minister, athletes and coaches to give warm welcome to Arshad Nadeem at Lahore airport tonight.
• Arshad Nadeem to arrive at the airport by 1:30am, confirms coach. 
• The Olympian finished at number 5 in the men's javelin throw competition at the Tokyo Olympics. 

LAHORE: The Punjab government has made arrangements to give a warm welcome to Pakistani Olympian Arshad Nadeem, who returns to the country after a strong showing in the recently-held Tokyo Olympics 2020. 

Arshad Nadeem will arrive at the Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport around 1:30am, confirmed his coach Fayyaz Bokhari. 

The Pakistani Olympian will be given a rousing welcome at the airport by the Punjab Minister for Youth and Sports Rai Taimoor Bhatti, president of the Athletics Federation, coaches and athletes who will all gather at the airport.

Nadeem finished fifth during the javelin throw in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, with India's Neeraj Chopra taking home the gold medal.

He made history at the global event by becoming the first-ever Pakistani athlete to qualify for the final of any track and field event in the Olympics.

Nadeem's ranking soared to fourth on the points table at one point in the competition but he was soon surpassed by rival athletes. During the final round, Nadeem made 82.91m on his opening attempt and threw 81.98m on the second. But his final throw was declared a foul to land him in the fifth position.

Punjab government also announced cash rewards worth Rs1mn each for Nadeem, weightlifter Talha Talib and mountaineer Shehroz Kashmir for their stellar performances.

Bhatti announced this while addressing a press conference. He said Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar will hand the cash prizes to all three athletes.

"Arshad Nadeem is the first Pakistani track and field athlete who directly qualified [for Olympics]," said Rai Taimur Khan Bhatti, and added, "Arshad Nadeem and Talha Talib both made Pakistan famous."