“Sports journalism is such a rich field; there is a goldmine of stories waiting to be covered”

SK: Tell me about your experience as a competitive swimmer in Pakistan.

AE: When I was about six or seven, I started swimming in local competitions at the Karachi Gymkhana. From there, I went on to the Sindh Open with the Karachi Grammar School team. I won a few medals, and that was when I realised I really wanted to do this. My first instructor was Batu uncle, who taught at the Beach Luxury hotel. In 2011, my mother and I decided that I should go into full-time coaching with Sana Wahid, and that summer, I won a bronze and a silver at the nationals. I competed in several local and international competitions afterwards. My final competition was in 2016 in Sri Lanka, where I won a bronze in the 50-metre breaststroke, surprising even myself. I had achieved a dream I didn’t know I had – winning an international swimming medal! I remember one of the first people I called was my coach, Sir Zameerul Hasan, who has been one of the most formative people in my life.

SK: What drew you to sports journalism?

AE: I wanted to go into journalism since I was 12, but not sports journalism, because I hated the way athletes were covered in the media; super short stories that lacked depth. In those days, there was no interest in what athletes had to say, and the media relied on cookie-cutter questions that could easily apply to any sport and did not necessarily pertain to young women in sports. I actually hated sports journalism and vowed I would never get into it. I worked at Student Life, a student newspaper at my college, for three years, and I edited a few sports pieces as managing editor, but never actually wrote a sports feature. I was not familiar with what sports coverage even looked like. Then, in April 2024, five young Pakistani athletes competed in the Australian Squash Junior Open and did really well. I had no idea until a few days later, because all I saw were snippets about the tournament on Instagram and one article. There was no in-depth coverage in print or on TV. The tournament had ended, so I had lost the chance to cover it live, but I decided to do an in-depth feature on the squash players who participated.

SK: Tell me about your piece on Arshad Nadeem. What sparked that idea?

AE: That story is very special to me. I conceptualised it during a nine-hour car journey from Gilgit to Islamabad in late 2023. I was travelling with a friend and we were talking about the Olympics next year, and I suddenly had the thought that someone should profile Arshad Nadeem because he was Pakistan’s only medal-winning chance, and my friend encouraged me to pursue the idea. Arshad Nadeem was significant because the nation knew about him to some extent. His previous wins had received coverage, but in typical Pakistani media fashion, it was a fleeting thing - and truthfully, a lot of sports coverage works that way. We care about an athlete for a few days or weeks, and then they exit our collective consciousness. With Arshad Nadeem, no one really knew who he really was as a person. What does he do? How does he train?

SK: How did you set the wheels in motion for this story?

AE: I joined Dawn.com in November 2023 and spent my first few months learning the ropes and focusing on election coverage. Once I settled in, I approached an editor with my pitch, and he was immediately on board. We kept it under wraps, and I began my prep work. I reached out to Arshad Nadeem on Instagram, and he directed me to his coach, Salman Butt. Getting hold of Butt was a challenging, and he was hesitant about giving permission for an exclusive interview, but he agreed to keep in touch. It took multiple calls on several phone numbers to gain a fraction of his trust, but I had faith in the process. I think my persistence convinced him. One Saturday, he surprised me with a call. “Do you want the interview?” he asked. I booked my ticket that evening, and I was in Lahore by Sunday night.

SK: How did the interview unfold?

AE: We met at the University of Punjab hostel, where Arshad Nadeem was staying for the duration of his training before leaving to compete in the Paris Diamond League. I interviewed him for an hour and met his brother and his coach. I think they warmed up to me as I had represented Pakistan as a swimmer in international competitions - that helped to break the ice. I went back in the afternoon to observe his training session at the gym. It struck me how bizarre this would seem internationally: an Olympian training in a public stadium.

SK: The timing of your just before Arshad Nadeem’s Olympic qualifier felt strategic. Was it a deliberate choice?

AE: I wrote the piece for Dawn, and the unabridged version appeared on Dawn.com. Initially. I wanted to publish the piece after the finals, but my editors advised against that. It was not the best strategy as it would have required me to rework the piece if the outcome was unfavourable. In the end, we decided to publish the piece on August 6, the morning of Arshad Nadeem’s heats. My hope was that Pakistanis would wake up to read about this athlete who was carrying the hopes of his country on a single 800-gram javelin.

SK: Your article won the Young Reporter Award. What was that like?

AE: A few months after the Olympics, a colleague shared a link. It was for the AIPS Sports Media Awards, and I decided to submit my story in two categories: Best Colour Piece and Young Reporter. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, and when the long list came out in March, I was elated. I didn’t even know I had been shortlisted until another journalist messaged to congratulate me. From there, I made it to the top five and then the top three. Shortly after, I received an email urging me to apply for a Moroccan visa to attend the ceremony in mid-May. Mind you, this was all unfolding while we were engaged in a war with India, and I was in the newsroom, updating the war timeline. It felt surreal to go from being featured in Dawn as a young swimmer to writing for them and now winning an award. It was a crazy full-circle moment.

SK: What advice would you give an aspiring sports journalist?

AE: Read the newspaper every day, especially the local sports stories, and understand the way they are written. Follow journalists on social media and keep up-to-date with their work. Sports journalism is such a rich field; there is a goldmine of stories waiting to be covered.

SK: What lies ahead for Anushe Engineer?

AE: A lot more in-depth reporting. I feel like I am shifting gears, and it’s not going to be a linear journey of more reporting and more awards, but more about perfecting my craft and having fun in the process. I want to learn how to report faster and polish my multimedia skills. Right now, it feels like I have scaled one of the highest peaks on Earth without knowing how I did it. For the summits to come, I want to be well prepared.

Sophia Khan is a writer and editor.