Arshad Nadeem invoking Hazrat Ali during Paris Games 2024

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated and examined the video through reverse image and keyword searches.

Multiple users were sharing a video on August 9, 2024, on social media platforms after Arshad Nadeem won his Olympic gold medal, showing him invoking Hazrat Ali’s name before his javelin throw. However, the video is from the Commonwealth Games 2022.

Arshad won gold in the men’s javelin throw at the Paris Olympics on August 8, breaking the Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 metres. He was the first Pakistani to win a medal after 32 years, Pakistan’s first gold medal after 40 years and the first gold in track and field as well as the first individual Olympic gold.

HOW IT STARTED

On August 9, 2024, a video began circulating on social media, as can be seen here on TikTok, showing Arshad saying “Ya Ali Madad” before his runup.

Social media users claimed that he invoked Hazrat Ali’s name before his javelin throws in the Paris Olympics. The TikTok video gained over 1.7 million views.

Another TikTok account shared the same video with the caption “Power of Ya Ali madad, Arshad Nadeem wins gold in Olympics”. The video racked up over 187,000 views.

The video was also shared on Facebook and gathered over 50,000 views.

The same video was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in Arshad’s Olympic performance after his gold medal, as well as because many users were pointing out in the comments that the video was not from the Paris Games 2024.

A reverse image search conducted using screenshots from the video showed that it was not from the Paris Olympics but an old video from the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Arshad invokes Hazrat Ali’s name at the 26-second mark in the video showing the highlights of his javelin throw performance.

FACT-CHECKING STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim regarding a viral video showing Arshad Nadeem invoking Hazrat Ali’s name before his Olympic javelin throw is misleading.

The video is from 2022 from his performance in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, and omitting this vital context and detail while circulating the video the day after his Olympic victory has the potential to misguide and confuse the public.

Evidence and References

YouTube video showing Arshad Nadeem’s highlights from javelin throw final in Commonwealth Games 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEU8zS4dc4g