The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) has announced that eight national athletes will now receive quarterly grants under the IOC Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Programme. The support is meant to help them prepare for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Each athlete will get USD 13,500 a year.
The funding starts in September 2025 and continues until August 2028. For many of these athletes, this assistance will make their training schedules more stable and their travel plans more achievable.
Arshad Nadeem is once again on the list. The Olympic gold medalist remains the only athlete selected from athletics. His inclusion feels almost expected now, yet it also reflects the trust placed in him as a consistent medal contender. For Arshad, the scholarship creates some breathing room as he builds toward another Olympic cycle.
Most of the selected athletes come from shooting. The National Rifle Association of Pakistan has secured five spots. Kishmala Talat leads the group. She made history at Paris 2024 as the first Pakistani woman to directly qualify for the Olympics. Rabia Kabir, Muhammad Farrukh Nadeem, Sulaiman Khan, and Imam Haroon join her. Their selection shows how shooting has quietly become one of Pakistan’s most reliable sporting fields.
Two other athletes from different disciplines round out the list. Haiqa Hassan from table tennis has been included. Taekwondo athlete Fateemaah-tuz-Zahraa Khawar is the other. Their names remind us that talent continues to emerge from sports that often receive little attention.
The IOC Olympic Solidarity Programme exists to support countries that need financial help to develop athletes. It gives national committees the means to keep their best competitors focused on training. Earlier this year, the POA confirmed that Pakistan had received its allocation. With this latest announcement, the formal process has begun. For the eight selected athletes, the path to LA28 now feels a little more within reach.
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