Why did Iranian athlete Sadegh Beit Sayah get disqualified and lead to Navdeep’s gold upgrade at Paralympics?

Iranian athlete Sadegh Beit Sayah suffered a massive blow and was disqualified from the men’s javelin throw F41 final at the Paris Paralympics on Saturday. Sadegh made a record-breaking effort of 47.64 metres in his fifth attempt to finish at the top of the tally after the final round of men’s javelin throw. However, he was later disqualified for violating the rules and missed out on the gold medal as India’s Navdeep Singh’s silver medal was upgraded to gold. The F41 category is for athletes who are of short stature.

The Iranian javelin thrower was disqualified due to a violation of rule 8.1 of the World Para Athletics Rules and Regulations (Code of Conduct and Ethics).

“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,” the 8.1 rule of World Para Athletics Rules and Regulations Code of Conducts stated.

The Paris Paralympics committee has not revealed the reason for Sadegh’s disqualification in detail. However, fans have speculated 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.

Meanwhile, in the jam-packed Stade de France, there was a redemption arc for India’s Navdeep after he finished fourth in Tokyo. Navdeep was second in order among the six participants and started his campaign in the final with a foul attempt. He failed to stop the momentum and fell over the line, which resulted in a foul attempt.

In his third attempt, Navdeep dug deep and broke the Paralympic record with a massive 47.32m throw and moved to the top spot.

Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah thought he had rewritten history with a 47.64m throw to set the new Paralympic record. But his disqualification after the conclusion of the final took away the gold medal triumph from him.