On a scorching day of fainting veterans and rifle-shot starts, a girl named Kainat Khalil from Sindh rewrote the meaning of endurance at the 35th National Games.
Athletics at the Games began not with a traditional pistol’s pop, but with the sharp, unexpected report of a rifle cutting through the cool Monday morning at the NPT&SC.
It was an omen. This would be a day of raw, unvarnished struggle, where the starting command itself felt like a call to battle.
The dust from the inaugural men’s 5,000m had barely settled before the December sun perched mercilessly over the open field. It transformed the arena into a kiln, making the very air an opponent.
In the women’s 10,000 metres, the drama was medical: Athletes wilted, fainted and were stretchered away — vanquished not by rivals, but by the searing haze.
Wapda’s Maria Bibi, who would emerge the quickest in 44 minutes and 21 seconds ahead of Navy’s Mumtaz (47:10.11), later stated the obvious with exhausted clarity.
“The heat felt extreme during the race and that’s why the athletes fainted,” Maria told Dawn. It was a race of survival, where the medal was, as Maria put it, “a cherry on the top” of simply finishing.
Amidst this brutal theatre of attrition, a sight unfolded that turned struggle into spectacle, and pain into pure wonder: Nine-year-old Kainat from Sindh running with a rhythm that seemed borrowed from a breeze.
While finishing was a task for veterans, she moved as if she had been training for precisely nine years.
On the final lap, she found a sprint that would have contended in a much shorter race, crossed the line third, and laid down on the track. The stadium’s cheer wasn’t just for a medal; it was a roar of sheer, unadulterated fascination.
After the medal ceremony, the media scrum proved more daunting than 25 laps.
“What do I say? I don’t get it,” the bronze medalist sighed, shrugging, turning her palms upward in helplessness. Coaxed by her coach, she found her voice, slow and sure the second time.
“My name is Kainat Khalil and I compete in long distance running. This is my first time competing at nationals,” the shy nine-year old told Dawn.
Then, the truth she made her own. “This was not possible but I made it possible,” she parroted what her coach had gently said to her just seconds before.
What goes through a child’s mind during such an ordeal? “Just that I need to run. However much there is to run, I will.”
Asked if she enjoyed this masochistic craft, the doll-sized athlete nodded a vigorous “yes!” Her advice to her peers was timeless. “Work really, really hard to get what you want.”
Before the sweat had dried, her eyes were already set on the Karachi marathon and then an international stage, where she dreams of gold for Pakistan.
ARSHAD’S SOARING JAVELIN
In her staggering feat, one could see the raw, uncut diamond of a potential that follows in the wake of the nation’s established stars — a lineage that leads directly to the global podium where Pakistan’s javelin star, Arshad Nadeem, has already shown what such belief, paired with supreme talent, can achieve.
The Paris 2024 winner Arshad, according to everyone’s expectations, clinched the gold medal with a 81.81m throw on his third and final attempt.
“This is one of the biggest events for the youth of our country, and it’s where I began participating” Arshad told Dawn, “That’s how I began my journey. There’s plenty of athletes coming out of these games that will compete for Pakistan next year at the Commonwealth Games or Asian Games, for example. The way I make Pakistan proud when I compete abroad, so will they.”
Around Kainat, who had a whole future ahead of her, and Arshad who reached the pinnacle, there were other champions who painted a chorus of adult burdens.
The women’s 100m saw Olympian Faiqa Riaz reclaim her title as Pakistan’s fastest woman, screaming in delight after battling back the self-doubt that followed her Olympic debut.
Self-doubt had overtaken her confidence after she lost two major local championships following her Paris 2024 debut, she told Dawn after the race.
“I’ve just reclaimed my national games title and I’m immensely proud,” she vowed, a veteran rewriting her own narrative.
She bagged gold for Wapda in 11:70 while Khoula Umer Khan of HEC won silver in 12:03 and Army’s Tameen Khan settled for bronze in 12:10.In the men’s 100m, Samiullah of Wapda won gold with a hamstring pulled a month prior, his triumph laced with private struggle. “I had to pay for all of my medical expenses on my own,” Samiullah, who finished in a modest time of 10:30, revealed to Dawn.
Army’s Usman Ali (10.40) and Rashid Riaz (10.45) bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the 3000m steeplechase, Talha Saleem spoke of a year’s singular focus. “I took no day off for six months,” he told Dawn, his gold medal a product of monastic sacrifice.
Their stories — of injury, doubt, isolation and financial strain — formed the hard ground of elite sport.
From the shot put circle, Nabeela Riaz, dominating the national circuit for four years, threw a personal best of 12.48m to claim another gold for Army.
But she lamented, while talking to Dawn, competing only “once or twice a year” — a champion from a small town of Sarai Alamgir in Gujrat district pleading for more stages to prove her might.
The day’s action ended with the pole vault in fading light as US-based Noreen Hussain, leaping for Army and for the image of a Pakistan she loves, took gold with a leap of 2.90 metres.
“Just the opportunity to compete in Pakistan when you are from here is quite fascinating,” she told Dawn.
ARMY ON TOP
Medals were clinched across the city on Monday with Pakistan Army strengthening their position at the top of the table with 46 golds to Wapda’s 14.
Army swept all golds on offer in the taekwondo poomsae event.
The men’s gold medals were secured by Aqdasullah Qadeer and Mohammad Sarmad Waheed (Under 30 Pair), Shahbaz Gul and Ibrar-ul-Haq (Over 30 Pair), and Aqdas, Haris Deedar, and Ahmad Shahzad (Under 30 Team). Ameer Hamza added an Over 17 freestyle gold.
On the women’s side, Naila and Zeena Sheraz won the Under 30 Pair, while Mehrun Nisa and Urooj Bashir dominated the Over 30 Pair. Other winners included Zymal Naqvi (Over 17 Freestyle), and the army’s mixed pairs also took home gold medals across different categories.
In the shooting competition, Pakistan Olympian Gulfam Joseph won gold along with Kaleemullah and Azhar Abbas in the 50m Pistol team event for Army. Pakistan Navy’s Shahrukh Khan took gold in the category’s individual event.
Army’s Mehr Khaliq, Zikra Shoukat and Captain Aqsa Shabbir won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle team category while Mehr took the individual honours.
In rugby, Wapda claimed both the men’s and women’s gold medals defeating Army 19-0 and Punjab 15-0 respectively.
The fencing competition at NED University saw Naeem from Punjab clinch the gold medal in the men’s Sabre event. Ali Ahmed from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) took home the silver, while Shoaib of Sindh and Baryal from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shared the bronze.
Wapda and Army booked a final clash in the men’s tennis team event.
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