President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday conferred the Hilal-e-Imtiaz on Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem.

The president conferred the award upon Arshad Nadeem at a special investiture ceremony in Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.

The Olympian thanked the president for conferring the prestigious award and vowed to continue serving the country.

Arshad shattered Olympic records with a 92.97-metre throw in the javelin throw final to win the country’s first Olympic medal in 40 years at the Paris Games earlier this month.

He landed two 90-metre-plus throws in six attempts, breaking his personal-best record of 90.18m, and becoming the first javelin thrower in history to make two 90-metre-plus throws in a single event.

Arshad’s achievement also secured the country’s first-ever individual gold medal at the Games.