THE beginning wasn’t rosy: a near miss in the year of the Olympics; heartbreak for the Pakistan hockey team and, by and large, the country’s sporting fraternity; the continuous decline evident, the rot in the system laid bare.

By the end of 2024, however, and thanks largely to the persevering Arshad Nadeem, Pakistan have an Olympic individual champion — a gold medal, after 32 years of failure at sport’s grandest stage.

Arshad’s monumental triumph in Paris — his javelin piercing the sky with an Olympic record 92.97m throw in August — renewed hopes of the country’s sporting potential.

Haider Ali, Pakistan’s only representative at the Paralympics that followed the Olympics in Paris, then ensured the country ended up on the medals table, as well, with his bronze in the discus throw event.

To ensure those feats aren’t a flash in the pan, however, a lot remains to be done to put sports back on track in Pakistan.

“Sir yeh aap ka vision tha, aap ne isko chance dia [Sir this was your vision that you gave him a chance],” the Punjab sports minister was seen telling Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a video uploaded by the Prime Minister’s Office on social media as the two ‘relived’ Arshad’s moment of glory on television.

It was a reference to the Punjab Youth Festival, held during Sheh­baz’s term as chief minister of the province, where Arshad first came to prominence.

But it was a strange reference: it could’ve been called ‘a vision’ if all the winners from the Punjab Youth Fes­tivals had ended up on the Olympic podium.

But apart from Arshad, who became the first individual athlete from Pakistan to qualify for the Olympics, no one else has come close.

Hockey’s decline

The hockey team didn’t even make it, either; falling at the final hurdle and failing to qualify for the Games for a third straight time.

Pakistan were eight minutes away from confirming a berth in Paris, only to be floored by a late fightback by New Zealand, who stormed from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in their Olympic qualifier.

It was a case of near-misses for the national team during the year, which at last saw change at the helm of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Tariq Hussain Bugti took over as president from the long-serving retired Brig Sajjad Khokhar, who was forced to quit after a reign that saw the national game run into the ground.

There were signs of revival, Pakistan advancing to the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where they suffered a penalty shootout loss to Japan, whilst they also made it to the semi-finals at the FIH Nations Cup and the Asian Champions Trophy.

There is hope for the future, though. Defender and drag-flick specialist Sufyan Khan was named FIH Rising Star of the Year while hockey`s world governing body has also announced `Project Pakistan` aimed at reviving the sport in the country.

However, the road back to the top rung of world hockey will require a plan by the government as well. Some `vision` will come handy there and there is a need to ensure that Pakistan don`t miss out on a fourth straight Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

While hockey`s problems are systemic springing from lack of funds in the sport to the closure of departmental teams and maladministration in the PHF cricket`s popularity in the country, as well as the financial stability of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has allowed it to end what has initially seemed to be a dismal year on a high.

Cricketing revival There was also a sprinkling of gold dust from Arshad before Pakistan`s cricketing revival came about although the Pakistan Cricket Board took corrective measures to enforce the required change.

Pakistan had a horror start to 2024, whitewashed in a threeTest series in Australia beforecrashing out in the group stage of the T20 World Cup, where there was a humiliating loss to minnows USA.

Following his Olympic milestone, Arshad was invited to the national team`s dressing room in a bid to restore confidence and belief, but it did little for a side that crashed to a Test series loss to Bangladesh in their own backyard.

A thumping by England in the opening Test of a three-match series prompted the PCB to act.

Changes were made to the selection committee, the influence of Aaqib Javed, who would later go on to become the team`s head coach, hanging heavy.

In a remarkable turnaround, Pakistan won the last two Tests on turning pitches to clinch the England series.

Newly-installed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan then became the first skipper to lead Pakistan to ODI series triumphs away in Australia and South Africa; the team`s confidence back before it defends its title at next year`s Champions Trophy the first ICC tournament held in the country since it co-hosted the ODI World Cup back in 1996.

India`s refusal to send its team to Pakistan four the Champions Trophy forced prolonged talks until it was agreed that matches involving either teams at ICC tournaments in either country till 2027 will be played at neutral venues.

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had stressed about equality during the talks with India and the ICC and in the end, got a more accept-able deal for Pakistan. And while his term as PCB chairman didn`t get off to the best possible start talk of Naqvi juggling two important positions remains rampant as he also happens to be the country`s interior minister cricket`s overall structure has helped him get things back on track.

The Champions Trophy, though, won`t be the only major sporting extravaganza Pakistan will be hosting next year. The country is also slated to hold the South Asian Games an event that has twice been postponed in the last two years.

Olympic redux The Games are returning to Pakistan for the first time since 2004 and the Pakistan Olympic Association has proposed to hold them in November.

The Pakistan Sports Board will have to work with the POA to make it a befitting event although the two bodies have not seen eye to eye in the recent past.

That is expected to change with the POA having elected Arif Saeed as it president. Arif, who also heads the Pakistan Rugby Union, was a consensus candidate after the PSB had raised several concerns about the polls.

`A lot of work needs to be done for the South Asian Games and it requires a lot of time and investment from the POA and the government,` he told reporters after his election on Monday. `If Pakistan successfully hosts the South Asian Games, it will pave the way for organising larger international events in the future.Arif`s ties with the government is hoped to ensure better dialogue although it remains to be seen whether the POA continues with its pushback of the policies the PSB is trying to introduce.

The PSB is seeking more oversight over the national federations; establishing an independent election commission to oversee elections. The new policy also included the creation of a special tribunal to address disputes, complaints and appeals of federations. It has also decided introduce the Pakistan Code of Ethics and Governance in Sports and a model constitution for the federations.

However, the PSB`s writ remains limited. Only nine out of 43 federations have submitted their audited financial statements for the year to the country`s sports regulatory body.

For the policies to be implemented in full, these will have to be passed by the parliament, a sports law enacted that prevents disputes from arising in national federations.

Football`s folly One federation whose elections were supposed to have been completed in 2024 was the Pakistan Football Federation, which remains under a Normalisation Committee appointed by Fifa.

However, as the NC sought to change some clauses of the constitution ahead of the elections, it faced some backlash from the recently-elected PFF Congress members, including departments, who weren`t allowed tovote.

It remains to be seen whether it was a deliberate ploy to block departmental votes although Fifa has given the NC an extension till Feb 15 to resolve the issues and hold elections.

Fifa had proposed talks with the government in an attempt to take it into the loop over the constitutional amendments but they never happened.

And as the PSB seeks greater oversight, it should ensure a sports legislation that deals with better governance and controls is passed.

In a welcome move, the PSB introduced a cash prize policy under which Rs10 million will be given to an athlete for winning gold medal at the Olympics or Paralympics, Rs7.5 million for silver and Rs5 million for bronze.

Prize money for triumphing at other international events global and continental has also been increased.

While Arshad was lavished with cash awards left right and centre, Paralympian Haider had been dismayed at the lack of recognition.

For athletes like him and cueists Mohammad Asif and Awais Munir who won world and Asian snooker titles respectively in 2024 the increase in prize money will hopefully provide them with more impetus to continue their efforts to win laurels for the country.

Despite the adversity and the lack of proper sports governance, Pakistan`s athletes have shown remarkable resilience to triumph. They should expect better in the coming year.