LAHORE: Javelin ace Arshad Nadeem, who set a new Olympic record in Paris and won Pakistan its first gold medal in 40 years, was given a hero's welcome as he landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore late Saturday night.

Top officials including the provincial and federal ministers, the Olympic hero’s family and his fans in large numbers arrived at the airport to receive Nadeem.

The javelin superstar, whose flight departed 27 minutes late from Istanbul Airport, returned home via a Turkish Airlines flight TK-174, which landed at the Lahore airport at 1:25am.

According to Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority sources, the flight adopted a routine route and entered Lahore via Balochistan and Karachi. The flight took 5 hours and 23 minutes to reach Lahore from Istanbul.

On the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the flight carrying the national hero was welcomed with a water cannon salute at the airport.

Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Prime Minister Youth Program Chairman Rana Mashhood, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima and Khawaja Saad Rafique on behalf of the government welcomed Nadeem at the airport.

During his interaction with journalists at the airport, Nadeem said he was "grateful to Allah" for his great achievement during the Paris Olympics 2024. He also thanked the nation for the respect and honour it has bestowed on him.

Due to the prayers of his parents and the nation, Allah brought me to this position, he added.

“There is a long journey behind this success. [I] worked hard day and night to get the medal.”

Responding to a question, the national hero, hailed the government, Sports Board Punjab and others for providing him facilities.

“I'm very happy to win a gold medal [for my country] during the [Paris] Olympics,” he said, adding that he would prepare himself to maintain his performance in the upcoming events.

Later, the javelin star left the airport for his hometown via a double decker bus. The Punjab police were escorting the bus.

Nadeem won the Olympic men’s javelin title in Paris on Thursday, beating defending champion, India's Neeraj Chopra, to secure Pakistan's first individual gold medal at a Summer Games.

The six-feet-three-inch-tall Nadeem made the country proud by hurling the javelin to 92.97 metres, improving the Olympic record by over 2.50 metres, and forcing the packed-to-capacity crowd to give him a standing ovation.