Navdeep Singh emerged as a national hero when his silver medal was upgraded to gold in the men's javelin throw F41 category at Stade de France in the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Saturday. (More Sports News)
He earned India's seventh gold medal at the Paris Paralympics with a personal best throw of 47.32 metres. This marks India's first-ever gold medal in the men's javelin throw F41 category.
But how this happened? How Navdeep Singh's silver was upgraded to gold medal, let's find out.
It was a series of dramatic events, with the 23-year-old para-athlete from Haryana starting with a foul on his first attempt. He then broke the Paralympic record with his third throw of 47.32 meters. However, his record was short-lived as Iran's Beit Sayah Sadegh set a new Paralympic record with a throw of 47.64 meters on his fifth attempt.
Navdeep was unable to surpass this mark in his last attempt and committed a foul as well, resulting in him settling for the silver medal. However, after the event concluded, Beit Sayah Sadegh was disqualified, leading to Navdeep's silver medal being upgraded to gold.
This was Navdeep's second Paralympic Games after Tokyo, where he finished fourth in the same category. Notably, the F41 category is for athletes of short stature.
India are currently in 15th place in the medal tally with 29 medals including nine silver and 13 bronze medals.
