Once taunted for his height, javelin thrower Navdeep Singh wins India’s seventh gold
Growing up in his village Buana Lakhu in Haryana, a young Navdeep Singh, who suffered from dwarfism, would listen to the taunts of neighbourhood kids calling him “Bauna (Dwarf)” and would avoid getting out of his home for days. It was only after he started competing in wrestling and athletics and got the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in 2012 that he felt confident to face those taunts. On Sunday night, as the four feet four inches tall Navdeep won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw (F41) final with a throw of 47.32 metres in his third attempt, brother Mandeep Sheoran and mother Mukesh Rani were cheering for him. Navdeep had initially finished second, but was upgraded to gold medal after the initial winner from Iran, Sadegh Beit Sayah, was disqualified for unsporting or improper conduct. “Navdeep would lock himself in a room and would not get out of the house for days. All the neighbourhood kids teased him about his height and would call him Bauna,” elder brother Mandeep Sheoran shared with The Indian …