The price tag of a ‘fair reward’ for Arshad Nadeem is 2 billion rupees!

Arshad Nadeem has become a hero, overnight.

And not just in Pakistan, whom the star javelin thrower gave its first Olympic gold medal in 40 years. His record-breaking throw of 92.97m at a packed Stade de France in Paris last week was celebrated across the region including India. Despite the fact that their Olympic hero Neeraj Chopra, who was the defending champion, had to contend with a silver, the Indian sports community, joined sports fans on the other side of the divide to celebrate Arshad’s record-breaking feat.

Arshad returned home to a hero’s welcome Sunday morning, showered with rose petals at the Lahore airport. The shower of praise will continue as he attends a series of events to mark his historic triumph. And so will some unprecedented financial rewards from both the government and the private sector.

How Pakistan can pay him back?

So how much, in financial terms, should be Arshad’s fair rewards.

For a country which has not won even a bronze medal in 32 years, a first-ever individual gold and that too in athletics, the mother of all sports, is priceless.

If you ask me, I would say “Arshad is worth his weight in gold.” Or much more.

And how much?

Let’s say Pakistan decides to reward Arshad with the equivalent of his weight in gold. I googled about Arshad’s weight and it says he weighs 95kg (he looks way bigger and heavier).

The cost of one kg gold is roughly USD77,000. The total cost of 95kg gold will roughly be USD7.3 million or in Pakistani rupees slightly more than two billion.

So, will Pakistan reward its biggest sporting hero of all time in such a befitting manner?

Things look promising. If all the pledges materialize and if more companies from the corporate sector come forward, Nukta estimates that he would end up with a collective prize basket of 500 million rupees. That’s a quarter of what he should get.

May be Pakistan will need to be much more generous. After all, Arshad has earned it.