Why India’s Navdeep was upgraded to gold after silver in the F41 javelin

India’s Navdeep was upgraded to gold in the final of the men’s javelin F41 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics despite winning silver after Iran’s Beit Sayah Sadegh was disqualified. This is India’s first gold medal in the men’s javelin F41 category and brings India’s total tally of Paralympic gold medals to seven, the highest ever for the country.

Navdeep’s first attempt was foiled, but he made a remarkable comeback on his second attempt with a throw of 46.39 metres. His third throw, which broke the Paralympic record with a throw of 47.32 metres, put him in the lead. However, Iran’s Beit Sayah Sadegh surpassed Navdeep with a record throw of 47.64 metres on his fifth attempt.

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After the final, the Iranian athlete who won the gold medal in this event was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. This disqualification allowed Navdeep Singh to be awarded the gold medal, as Sayah lost first place due to his conduct.

International Paralympic Committee rules prohibit athletes from making political statements at the event. Iran’s Beit Sayah Sadegh was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct and removed from the final results.

Following Beit Sayah’s disqualification, India’s Navdeep, who had originally won silver, was upgraded to gold. The silver medal then went to Sun Pengxiang of China with a throw of 44.72 metres, while Iraq’s Nukhailawi Wilden won bronze with a throw of 40.46 metres. The F41 category is for athletes who are short in stature.

The International Paralympic Committee’s Code of Conduct states in Rule 8.1: “World Para Athletics (WPA) is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, ethics and conduct in disability sport. All participants in the sport, including athletes, coaches, officials and administrators, have a responsibility to uphold these standards and to ensure that the sport is conducted fairly, honestly and transparently.”

With Navdeep’s gold medal win, India’s total medal tally at this Paralympics takes to 29. With this impressive haul, India is most likely to finish in the top 15 of the medal table, 10 more than at Tokyo 2020.