Pakistan’s first Olympic winner in 32 years was rewarded with almost $1 million—and a buffalo

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Pakistan’s first Olympic winner in 32 years was rewarded with almost $1 million—and a buffalo

Pakistan has a brand new hero. During this year’s

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, Arshad Nadeem, a 27-year-old from Pakistan, defeated India’s defending champion, Neeraj Chopra, in the javelin throw. Not only that, Nadeem set a new Olympic record, throwing the javelin 92.97 meters (or 305 feet), becoming the first Pakistani to earn an individual gold medal.

It’s the first time the South ****** country has earned a medal

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, when its field hockey team notched a bronze. It’s the first gold medal since 1984—also earned by the country’s field hockey team. It was a hard-won victory for Nadeem who grew up one of eight children in a mud brick house in rural Punjab. He got his start in javelin by using “long eucalyptus branches with iron tips on their ends,” his brother

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Upon Nadeem’s momentous return home, he was

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with garlands, thousands of fans and a parade in the streets of Karachi in his honor. He also quickly became richer: He received a $50,000 prize from the Olympic Association, $350,000 and a

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Civic from Mariam Nawaz, the chief minister of his home province, and just over $500,000 from

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, Shehbaz Sharif.

Then there’s the most unconventional gift he received, per

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: A buffalo.

Nadeem received the buffalo from his father-in-law, NPR’s Benazir Samad reported Wednesday.

“In rural communities, a buffalo is considered one of the most honorable and valuable gifts, much like camels in desert regions like Saudi Arabia,” Rashad Bukhari, a writer from Punjab, told Samad.

It’s also a lucrative moneymaker, because buffalo milk—and ghee, its byproduct—is a common delicacy in the region. Pakistan is the world’s

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and is home to over 26 million buffaloes. Among all the nation’s milk-producing animals (including sheep, cattle, and goats), buffaloes have the market cornered; they account for three-quarters of all milk production.

The father-in-law in question, Muhammad Nawaz, defended his choice, per the

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, explaining that the buffalo gift is very “honorable” and “valuable” in their community.  

Appearing on a

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last week with his wife, Nadeem

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that he’d wished his father-in-law had instead gifted him a few acres of land. “But then I said ‘okay, fine, he gave me a buffalo, that is also nice,” Nadeem said, per a translation by

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