With every passing international/continental athletics occasion, the rivalry between Indian Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem is changing into one of the crucial thrilling match-ups in world athletics. Rivalries between athletes/groups from two international locations who’re neighbours and a shared historical past, have at all times been one of the crucial intriguing features of assorted sports activities. India versus Pakistan isn’t any completely different. Be it in cricket, hockey or every other sports activities, this rivalry at all times has been within the limelight and dominated.

In the world of athletics, a notable India vs Pakistan duel was again within the Sixties between Indian observe legend Milkha Singh and Pakistan’s Abdul Khaliq. The rivalry between Neeraj and Arshad can also be slowly gaining a variety of steam.

Neeraj has grow to be a family identify along with his on-field exploits, having received every part gold this sport needed to provide him on the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Diamond League and eventually the World Athletics Championships. His efforts have put Indian athletics on map.

While Arshad’s cupboard of medals/trophies just isn’t as massive as Neeraj, he’s nonetheless the primary Pakistani athlete to safe a World Championships medal, receiving a silver yesterday with Neeraj getting a historic gold. Less than a meter was the distinction between Neeraj’s greatest throw of 88.17 m and Arshad’s greatest effort of 87.82 m. Nadeem had additionally ended Pakistan’s 60-year look forward to a CWG gold final yr in Birmingham.

Head to go, each athletes have confronted off in 9 worldwide occasions collectively, seven instances at senior degree and two instances at junior degree, as per Olympics.com.

The first assembly of those two athletes was again within the South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati, the place Neeraj obtained a gold and Nadeem took residence a bronze. As of now, Neeraj has a 9-0 lead over Nadeem.

Despite Neeraj dominating general numbers, Arshad is coming nearer to the Indian ace’s performances since 2018 and might be a giant risk to his Olympic supremacy subsequent yr at Paris.

Pakistan’s Arshad holds a lead over Neeraj when it comes to private greatest throws, touching the 90.18 mark throughout CWG 2022, the place he received gold. He piped then world champion, Anderson Peters of Grenada, with this effort. Neeraj had missed the occasion as a consequence of an harm. It was solely the second time after Chinese Taipei’s Chao-Tsun Cheng 91.26 m throw on the 2017 World Underside, {that a} South Asian athlete touched the 90-m mark.

However, Neeraj is but to the touch this much-talked-about 90 m mark, along with his private better of 89.94m on the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden being a nationwide document as nicely.

A have a look at the Neeraj-Arshad rivalry in numbers:

EVENT                                                                                Neeraj Chopra      Arshad Nadeem

South Asian Games 2016, Guwahati                                      1st (82.23m)         third (78.33m)

Asian Junior Championships 2016, Ho Chi-Minh                    2nd (77.60m)        third (73.40m)

World U20 Athletics Championships 2016, Bydgoszcz*          1st (86.48m)         thirtieth (67.17m)

Asian Athletics Championships 2017, Bhubaneshwar             1st (85.23m)         seventh (78.00m)

Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast                               1st (86.47m)          eighth (76.02m)

Asian Games 2018, Jakarta                                                     1st (88.06m)         third (80.75m)

Tokyo Olympics 2020                                                                1st (87.58m)         fifth (84.62m)

World Athletics Championships 2022, Oregon                           2nd (88.13m)         fifth (86.16m)

World Athletics Championships 2023, Budapest                        1st (88.17m)        2nd (87.82m).