From the land of Milkha Singh, Neeraj and Nadeem come to conquer the world and spread peace

Chandigarh: One hails from the region where the legendary Milkha Singh was born, while the other comes from the region where Milkha spent a significant part of his life. 

In a historic achievement at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, on Sunday, Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem secured the top two positions on the podium in the men's Javelin event. 

This marks the first instance in the history of javelin throwing where two out of three medals have been won by Asian athletes, specifically from South Asia.

Neeraj threw 88.17m to take the top honours, while Nadeem reached 87.82m. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch finished third with a throw of 86.67m.

Thanks to the remarkable performances of Neeraj and Nadeem, South Asia has now established itself as a dominant force in the men's javelin event. 

Both the athletes hail from a region that was once part of undivided Punjab during the pre-partition era. 

The legendary athlete Milkha Singh was born on the western side of the undivided Punjab and spent a major portion of his life on the eastern side. 

The Radcliffe Line displacement, like that experienced by millions, caused a young Milkha, who was born in the village Basti Bukhari (then Govindpura) now falls in the Punjab province of Pakistan, to move from one side to the other. He became the first prominent figure in athletics from the South Asian region.

Milkha's ascent in sports became intertwined with the Partition, making him a household name on both sides of Punjab (across the region that falls under the undivided Punjab).

Neeraj, who hails from the Panipat district of Haryana, comes from the state carved out of unified Punjab.

Neeraj dedicated his Olympic medal in Tokyo to the late Milkha Singh, who passed away in June 2021 in Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab, India, a couple of months before the Tokyo Olympics.  

Neeraj, 25, and Nadeem, 26, who hails from Mian Channu thesil in the Punjab province of Pakistan, share a deep bond and advocate for brotherhood on both sides of the Radcliffe Line.

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 the 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 South Asia to register a 90-plus mark. His 90.18m got him the gold. 

Last year too, Neeraj became the first javelin thrower from South Asia to win 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 the world championship in Budapest.