Explainer
Why was Navdeep's men's javelin throw F41 silver upgraded to gold?
Iranian thrower Sadgeh Sayan Beit was disqualified following two yellow cards in the men's javelin throw F41 event at Paralympics 2024.
India's Navdeep won the men's javelin throw F41 gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
Indian fans were astonishingly happy on Saturday night when Navdeep's silver in the men's javelin throw F41 event at the Paralympics was upgraded to gold.
Navdeep, who broke the Paralympic record with a 47.32m throw, was later overtaken by the Iranian Sadgeh Beit Sayah, who won the gold medal with a throw of 47.64m at the Stade de France.
However, after the event ended, Sayah was disqualified for breaching rule 8.1 of the World Para Athletics Rules and Regulations (Code of Conduct and Ethics).
As per rule 8.1 of the World Para Athletics, “World Para Athletics (WPA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and conduct in the sport of Para athletics. All participants in the sport, including athletes, coaches, officials, and administrators, have a responsibility to uphold these standards and ensure that the sport is conducted in a fair, honest, and transparent manner.”
Why was Sadgeh Beit Sayah disqualified?
The Paris Paralympics committee has not yet revealed the reason for Sadegh’s disqualification. However, there are speculations that the Iranian javelin thrower's act of displaying a black flag with Arabic text in red colour during the competition might be the reason behind his disqualification.
The organising committee has issued displayed yellow cards against his name.
He was issued the first card for celebrating aggressively after his second throw and the second card came when he was seen taking out the black flag with Arabic text.
Even though Iran protested Sayah's disqualification, the organising committee awarded the gold medal to India's Navdeep. It was India's seventh gold medal at the Paralympics 2024.
India won a total of 29 medals at the Paris Paralympics including seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals and are placed 16th in the medal tally.
