Spreading peace through sports 

In the Tokyo Olympics, Nadeem used Neeraj's javelin and made history by becoming the first Pakistani to qualify for the finals of an athletics event in the quadrennial games. On Sunday in Budapest, Nadeem didn't have his country’s flag during the photo session of the medalists, and at that time, Neeraj made sure that Nadeem shouldn't be left out of the photo.

"The Partition made me an orphan. Both of my parents were killed in riots. So, when an invitation came for an Indo-Pak meet in Lahore (1960), at first, I was reluctant to go to Pakistan because of the sad memories. Eventually, when I went there, the warmth that I received from the people was unparalleled. Despite getting the better of their star athlete Abdul Khaliq, the people there loved me, and their Premier General Ayub Khan gave me the title of 'The Flying Sikh.' So, sports has the power to reverse the sorrowful memories into sweetness. It (sports) has the power to spread peace," legendary athlete late Milkha Singh had said during one of his interactions. 

Now, both Neeraj and Nadeem - the face of javelin throw in South Asia - are contributing to spreading peace through sports.

Last year during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Nadeem became the first javelin thrower from the South Asia to register a 90 plus mark. His 90.18m got him the gold. And last year too, Neeraj became the first javelin thrower from the South Asia to won a medal in the World Championship. 

"By God's grace we (Neeraj and he) will make it 1-2 in next year's Paris Olympics too," says Nadeem while interacting with media after his silver medal in world championship in Budapest.