The sun burned with a fierce, summer-like intensity on the winter morning but it couldn\u2019t temper the spirit of the competitors gunning for glory at the National Games on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The open field at the athletics venue hummed with simultaneous action \u2014 discus flying in one sector, hurdlers pacing in another. On the track, athletes bobbed and stretched, their shadows short under the midday blaze. In the stands, a scattered crowd fanned themselves, eyes darting between events.<\/p>\n
The pool offered some respite from the blazing sun as swimming began at the Games on a day headlined by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Inam Butt extending his remarkable legacy by clinching his 18th national title \u2014 the most by any wrestler \u2014 and a national record for discus thrower Faryal Farooq.<\/p>\n
Faryal\u2019s feat was the culmination of a four-years effort; those long days of lonely training meeting minutes of razor-edged opportunity.<\/p>\n
Through her first four throws, she was nowhere near the mark. The record, it seemed, would elude her once more.<\/p>\n
Then, before her final attempt, her coach Ashraf Ali leaned in and told her he would be proud if she breaks the record.<\/p>\n
Those words lit up the fire. Faryal spun, released, and the discus sailed \u2014 a silent arc against the blue clear sky. Every eye followed it until it thudded into the earth, well beyond the previous best. The official announced 38.21 meters \u2014 a new national record.<\/p>\n
The crowd erupted. For Faryal, from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, it was ecstasy, the triumphant end of a quest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter hearing my coach\u2019s words, I put everything into the final throw,\u201d she told Dawn, breathless. \u201cWe get few opportunities to compete throughout the year, so I train all year for one event and try to leave my heart out in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Faryal\u2019s moment shone brightest, other stories unfolded across the scorched field, each adding a different hue to the day\u2019s tapestry.<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s 400m hurdles, Musarrat Shaheen of Wapda, hailing from Mianwali in Punjab, powered through the last 100 meters to claim gold.<\/p>\n
Her smile afterwards was bright, but her words were sobering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a killer sport,\u201d she said while talking to Dawn, referring to the constant risk of injury.<\/p>\n
Her hurdles weren\u2019t just on the track. \u201cWhere I am from, there is that backward thinking that girls should stay in the house. Thankfully my family is supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Qasim Fayyaz of the Army, from Chiniot, the 20km walk race was a battle against the clock and the elements. He finished seven minutes behind of his personal best, due to the extreme weather.<\/p>\n
His routine reveals the brutal behind-the-scenes sacrifice: 90km of road running per week, twice-daily gym sessions in winter. \u201cThe body gets fatigued\u2026 We get very little time to rest. Focus on diet, which is very integral, is also not much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drama of endurance played out differently in the men\u2019s 400m hurdles, where Abid Razzak staged a late surge to snatch gold.<\/p>\n
For most of the race, his Army team-mate Tajammul Hussain (silver) was on his neck, but Razzak hung on his shoulder. As the second-placed athlete faded in the final metres, Razzak pounced, edging ahead at the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sun burned with a fierce, summer-like intensity on the winter morning but it couldn\u2019t temper the spirit of the competitors gunning for glory at the National Games on Tuesday. The open field at the athletics venue hummed with simultaneous action \u2014 discus flying in one sector, hurdlers pacing in another. On the track, athletes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14032,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14030\/revisions\/14032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}