Why Do We Forget Our Heroes? Fayyaz Bukhari — An Unsung Hero

In Pakistan, whenever success comes, we are quick to celebrate and mention our heroes. However, we often forget the people who spend years working behind the scenes to build and prepare those very heroes. Fayyaz Bukhari is one of those individuals.

Syed Fayyaz Hussain Bukhari, a senior WAPDA coach and former international athlete himself, is among the people who kept javelin throw alive in Pakistan at a time when hardly anyone even talked about the sport. As a javelin-throw coach, he played an important role in the early development of Arshad Nadeem.

In 2015, when Arshad Nadeem, a young athlete from Mian Channu, was throwing the javelin around 50 to 55 metres, Fayyaz Bukhari recognized his potential like a jeweller recognizing a precious stone.

Fayyaz Bukhari brought Arshad into WAPDA and trained him consistently for seven to eight years. Under his guidance, Arshad progressed from around 55 metres to 86 metres. He qualified for the Olympics at the 2019 South Asian Games and then finished fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, creating history for Pakistan in athletics.

If there is one person who can be credited with helping establish javelin throw in Pakistan, Fayyaz Bukhari’s name deserves to be among the very first. He endured a time when people would mockingly ask him, “Where are you going with that spear?” His response was always the same: “You will find out very soon.”

And, with time, people did find out. That javelin eventually carried Pakistan’s name onto the world stage and brought glory to the country at the Olympics.

Sadly, soon after the Tokyo Olympics, Fayyaz Bukhari was removed from his national coaching responsibilities. He was replaced first by Salman Butt and later by foreign coaches.

Fayyaz Bukhari’s story, however, is not limited to Arshad Nadeem.

When the WAPDA coach began training Yasir Sultan, the athlete’s throw had plateaued at around 75 meters. Under Fayyaz Bukhari’s coaching, Yasir achieved a personal best of 79.93 meters and won a bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok.