Few would have thought that a female boxer would be Pakistan’s sole medallist at the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Competing in the women’s 60kg category, Fatima Zahra became the first Pakistani woman boxer to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. Fatima was guaranteed a medal after outclassing New Zealand’s Jordan Wilson in the quarterfinals and advancing to the semis, where she settled for a bronze medal after losing to Canada’s Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh. In recognition of her historic achievement, Fatima was also selected to carry Pakistan’s flag during the closing ceremony. While her achievement does not entirely mask what has been an extremely disappointing campaign for Pakistan, there can simply be no understating the scale of Fatima’s accomplishment. One could talk about how this is a country where every sport aside from cricket is pretty much chronically neglected and the unique challenges that come with being a female athlete in Pakistan. But that would still not suffice. This is a country where women are confronted with nothing but barriers, obstacles and unnecessary challenges every time they step out of the door and often even when they are inside it too. Fatima might have only gotten the bronze, but has had to overcome more than just her opponents in the ring to get there.
Looking at Pakistan’s performance in the tournament overall, the scale of the disappointment is only heightened by how well the country did in the previous Commonwealth Games. In Birmingham in 2022, Pakistan emerged with a respectable 18th-place finish on the medals table, with an impressive haul of two gold, three silver and two bronze medals. The shortcomings on the athletics front, which has been one of the country’s strongest disciplines in recent years, were especially noticeable, particularly since Olympic gold medalist javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem was competing. The country’s premier athletic talent, and arguably the strongest hope for a gold medal at this tournament, failed to defend his men’s javelin title and could only secure a ninth-place finish. It was one thing to reach the top in any sport but staying on top is an entirely different challenge. This appears to be a tough challenge to navigate for the country’s athletes, even in well-funded cricket, pointing to deeper, structural shortcomings in the nation’s sports scene.
Fatima Zahra has also reportedly pointed to the gap between the sporting environment here in Pakistan and that available in other countries, highlighting the need for top-quality training and regular international competition. She also claimed that providing this support system is the government’s responsibility and she is not wrong. Pakistan clearly has a lot of talent on the sports front and that talent deserves to be doing a lot better on the international stage. Underachievement and poor management cannot continue to be one of our distinct traits on the sporting scene.
