Arshad Nadeem fell to his knees and made a prostration in celebration of Pakistan ending a 56-year medal drought in track and field at the Commonwealth Games.
This had a big impact. This was amazing. Arshad defied all expectations to win the javelin throw final at the Alexander Stadium on Sunday night with a massive 90.18-meter throw despite competing without a coach and having his throwing elbow extensively wrapped due to an injury.
In a competition that featured the world champion Anderson Peters, the former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott, and the former Commonwealth and world champion Julius Yego, he won by achieving that distance in his sixth throw.
After Mohammad Nawaz's silver medal in the quadrennial multi-sport event's first edition in 1954 and Jalal Khan's second-place finish in 1958, Pakistan won its first athletics medal at the Games since 1966 and its first javelin gold.
It was Pakistan's second gold in Birmingham; the first, which Nooh Dasagir Butt won in the +105kg weightlifting class, also set a Games record.
Arshad, like Nooh, was one of Pakistan's top medal chances before the competition, and with only his first throw, he made his intentions clear.
Arshad's first attempt, which he improved upon three times that evening, was 86.61 meters.
He was establishing the standard that the rest of the field would have to meet in order to win gold.
Arshad improved his personal best once again with a throw of exactly 88 meters on his second try, therefore the foul on that effort didn't matter.
Arshad, 25, instantly reached out to feel his right elbow, which he has been nursing since last year's Tokyo Olympics, when he came fifth, as each effort ended with him grimacing in pain. He placed the same at the global championships a month ago. But with a lead at the midway point of the contest, he could still smile.
With two rounds left, Arshad was still in the lead even though his fourth throw fell barely over the 85-meter mark.
Arshad ultimately fell behind after Peters threw the javelin 88.64 meters in the penultimate round. Peters rejoiced as if it were enough to win him the gold, but his happiness was fleeting. As soon as he threw beyond the 90-meter mark, the sport's "holy grail," Arshad knew he had the gold to win. By doing so, he passed Taiwan's Chao-Tsun Cheng to become just the second Asian to do so (91.36m). He also surpassed South African Marius Corbett's 88.75m Games record, which had lasted since 1998.
Peters, who won the world championships in Oregon with a throw of over 90 meters, attempted to pass Arshad with his final throw, but it was not to be. With a best throw of 85.70 metres, Yego of Kenya won bronze in the finals, giving him silver.
Missing are 10 Sri Lankans.
A top sports official reported on Sunday that 10 of the crisis-hit Sri Lankan team at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham had vanished in what appeared to be an attempt to stay in Britain.
According to the Sri Lankan official, who asked to remain anonymous, the nine athletes and their manager disappeared after finishing their activities.
Judoka Chamila Dilani, her manager Asela de Silva, and wrestler Shanith Chathuranga were three of those who had vanished the previous week.
The Sri Lankan authorities filed a police report as a result.
The official only stated, "Since then, another seven have disappeared."
"We assume they want to stay in the UK, perhaps to find work."
The administration of the 160-strong Sri Lankan contingent has access to each member's passport to guarantee their safe return.
That didn't stop some people from leaving.
The first three missing persons were found by British police, but no further action was taken against them, according to a Sri Lankan official, because they had not broken any local laws and had six-month visas.
In order to prevent defections, the police really persuaded us to surrender the passports we were holding, the official said.
"The cops haven't let us know where they are,"
Six Sri Lankans were reported missing from the Games, according to Birmingham-based West Midlands police, who also stated they were looking into the claims and were "continuing to ensure they are safe and well."
The police force and the UK interior ministry both declined to comment more, including on the assertion that there are a total of 10 persons missing.
As of Sunday night, Sri Lanka had taken home one silver and three bronze medals from the competition.
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