Navdeep Singh took the Javelin world by storm when he clinched the gold medal at the Paris Paralympic Games. Navdeep took the yellow metal with a personal best throw of 47.32m after the pole sitter Iranian athlete Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified in the F41 event.
Navdeep's celebrations during his Javelin event went viral as he seemed to be on cloud nine for the terrific efforts that he had produced. In an exclusive interaction with India TV, the star Javelin thrower has opened up on those celebrations.
"If I would have had it in my mind, I would not have said that," he told India TV during a felicitation ceremony of the para-athletes. "It was a tense moment. I was playing for the country. I was feeling the intensity," he said.
Navdeep had initially won the silver medal but was promoted to gold after the initial champion Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified for violation of code of conduct. Navdeep also shared his thoughts on the disqualification of the Iranian athlete.
"I was running in the first position and then the Iranian athlete got ahead of him. On track, we are competitors but off track we are friends. As a friend, I felt bad for him. But when it comes to the country, I was very happy and proud," he said.
India TV also interacted with two-time gold medal-winning Javelin thrower Sumit Antil for his herculean effort at the Games. Sumit opened up on the pressure of defending the gold medal and how special it was to become a two-time champion.
"Mental pressure plays a very important role. Any athlete who has worked will be under pressure. No one can deny that pressure. I remember I could not sleep for three days.
"Winning the first gold was a different feeling and this was a different. I was confident that I would defend my gold here. I knew if anyone would hit 70, I would still breach and win. I am very happy that I defended my title. Winning the first one was different," Sumit told India TV.
