Navdeep Singh during ‘NDTV Yuva Conclave’.
During the final, Navdeep got surprised by his own effort after throwing the javelin to a distance of over 46m. Speaking about it, he said, “Either my coach lied me during training or there was any other reason. I didn’t believe that I will get that distance. This is because the target I had fixed in my mind was 45m, around one meter less than what I got.
“My body was doing great as per the expectations. When my coach told me that my second throw is 46.39m, I became very happy. I was also surprised that is why I told him ‘Sir, khao maa kasam (Swear on your mother).”
For India, the gold bagged by Navdeep was a seventh one at Paris 2024 and 16th in its Paralympic history, but for the athlete, the top honour was way more than that.
Having suffered from dwarfism, Navdeep faced cruel taunts from onlookers while growing up in his village in Haryana’s Panipat district. In his village, the taunts of “Bauna (dwarf)” was quite common for Navdeep, who is four feet four inches tall.
Navdeep’s gold medal is a testimony to his resilience and determination. It would not only inspire him but a lot of other specially-abled athletes too, who went through a similar fate.
Meanwhile, India finished at the Paris Paralympics with a record 29 medals that included as many as 7 golds.
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