New Delhi: Navdeep Singh bagged India’s seventh gold medal in the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024 on Saturday. The 23-year-old from Haryana initially awarded silver medal in men’s javelin throw F41 class but the eventual gold medallist, Sadegh Beit Sayeh, earned disqualification for improper conduct on field.
Navdeep threw the spear for a distance of 47.32m to eventually claim the gold, which is the first for an Indian in the F41 class. His sporting journey started with wrestling before the introduction of athletics came during the school days.
Born on November 11, 2000, in Haryana’s Buana Lakhu village, Navdeep was a premature child (born in seven months). As a result, he was born as a dwarf, the fact that the parents realised two years later.
Father Dalveer Singh was a wrestler and encouraged Navdeep to participate in the competitions at local level. However, a back injury to Navdeep meant he couldn’t continue further with the contact sport, according to The Indian Express report.
Navdeep was very shy to come out of his house as everyone in the surroundings would tease him with his height. However, things took a different route once he was bestowed with the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in 2012 for excellence show in national-level school competitions. He was honoured by the village members.
Neeraj Chopra’s role behind Navdeep taking javelin throw
The youngster moved to Delhi in 2016 to start training under coach Naval Singh. The stint reaped dividends when Navdeep won gold medal in the 2019 World Para Junior Championship in Switzerland.
According to Indian Express report, Navdeep’s move to Delhi was inspired by India’s ace athlete Neeraj Chopra’s U-20 world record with a monstrous 86.20m at the age of 18. Father Dalveer took loan to support Navdeep’s training expenses.
Navdeep finished fourth at the Tokyo Paralympics with a throw of 40.80m. He won a bronze medal at the 2024 World Para Championship in Kobe with a better performance of 42.82m.
Navdeep Singh bagged India’s seventh gold medal in the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024 on Saturday. The 23-year-old from Haryana initially awarded silver medal in men’s javelin throw F41 class but the eventual gold medallist, Sadegh Beit Sayeh, earned disqualification for improper conduct on field. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
