Navdeep Singh explains drama behind scenes after he was upgraded from silver to gold with Iranian winner disqualified

The Indian contingent won its seventh gold medal at the Paris Paralympics late on Saturday night as Navdeep Singh won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw (F41). India now have 29 medals from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in what is their best-ever Paralympics performance.

But the gold medal did not come without drama. With a throw of 47.32 metres in his third attempt, Navdeep had secured a silver medal behind Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah. But shortly after the event had ended, it transpired that Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified for what the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) called “unsporting or improper conduct”.

While there has been no statement from the IPC on the incident or an explanation given for why the Iranian was disqualified, the broadcast of the event showed that the Iranian had pulled out a black flag from his bag after sealing his gold medal. The international broadcast had immediately cut the feed and switched to a different camera right away.

How Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah reacted after losing gold

India’s Navdeep was sitting with Sadegh Beit Sayah when they learnt that the Iranian was being stripped of his gold and the Indian would be upgraded.

“I was sitting with the Iranian when he was informed that he had been disqualified. He was stunned and started to cry. I tried to console him by embracing him. But it was difficult to understand from him what had happened. He speaks only his own language, speaks no English. I guess this was just India’s day!” recollected Navdeep Singh later.

Explaining what had happened behind the scenes, Navdeep Singh said: “We were all sitting together in a room after our event was over. That’s when the official came into the room and showed the Iranian a red card. I had no idea what’s happening. Then it was declared that he had been disqualified. He must done something that was against the rules. I also didn’t understand what he had done. Initially I thought that he was wearing a t-shirt that was not his country’s official jersey.”

Paralympic legend Devendra Jhajharia, who currently serves as the Paralympic Committee of India President, said: “Before any big event, you country’s flag is sent to the organisers. You can’t have any other flag. So he has acted with indiscipline. That’s why he was disqualified. It’s a rule, You have to follow that. IPC has just enforced its rules.”

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