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Paris Paralympics

Sumit Antil shatters meet record to defend javelin gold at Paris Paralympics 2024

Published at :September 3, 2024 at 2:08 AM
Modified at :September 3, 2024 at 2:08 AM
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Kartik Warrier

Sumit Antil now holds the Paralympic and World record.

India’s flagbearer at the Paris Paralympics 2024 Opening Ceremony, Sumit Antil achieved a new Paralympic record in the men’s javelin throw F64 category en route to defending his gold medal from three years ago at Tokyo. For Antil though, it was not just about retaining what was already his. Having rewritten the World Record thrice at Tokyo, Sumit challenged the Paralympic record and surpassed it twice to retain his gold.

The 26-year-old from Haryana threw a distance of 70.59m to clinch the top honour. Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku achieved a distance of 67.03m to win silver. Michael Burian of Australia clinched the bronze medal with a season best throw of 62.80m.

The current Asian, World and Paralympic champion started with a massive throw of 69.11m, breaking his own Paralympic record of 68.55m, set at Tokyo 2020, to top the chart after the first set of throws.

If that wasn’t sufficient, Sumit again set a new record, crossing the 70m barrier to achieve a distance of 70.59m. He then followed it up with a throw of 66.66m, which in itself, was eventually only less than the best throw of the silver medallist.

Also Read: Top 11 Indian athletes with most medals at Paralympics

Another humongous throw followed on the next attempt. However, it wasn’t measured as he had just crossed the line while throwing.

Sumit’s fifth attempt saw him achieving another massive distance of 69.04m. With no one having crossed his distance, he sent across his sixth attempt knowing that he had already won gold. While he couldn’t break his own world record, he managed another big throw measuring 66.57m.

Sumit, thus, won India’s second gold of the day, after para-shuttler Nitesh Kumar had clinched one earlier. This also marked a staggering seventh medal of the day for India, taking the nation’s tally 14 medals including three gold.

Sumit Antil’s journey

In the year 2015, Sumit had had his motorbike hit by a speeding truck, which eventually resulted in his left leg being amputated. His dreams of taking up wrestling professionally were dashed.

While pursuing his B.Com from Ramjas College of Delhi University, another para-athlete, Rajkumar, introduced javelin throw discipline to Sumit. The lad from Sonipat, Haryana started training under Nitin Jaiswal and has never looked back since.

First, he set the World Record in the F64 category at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in 2019, before breaking the same en route to a silver medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in the same year.

Sumit then astonishingly broke his own World Record thrice at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, eventually winning gold with a throw of 68.55m. He broke the record for a fourth time in the same year at the Indian Open National Para Athletics Championships.

The 2023 and 2024 World Championships gold medallist last set the world record at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, achieving a whopping distance of 73.29m.

With his gold at Paris, Sumit has joined Devendra Jhajharia and Avani Lekhara as the only Indians to have won multiple gold medals at the Paralympics. The javelin thrower has epitomized consistency in the true sense, and his exploits have not only set a benchmark for para-athletes, but also fully abled athletes across the globe.

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Other Indian results

Sandeep Chaudhary, who had finished fourth in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games, once again fell agonizingly short of the podium, with his best throw measuring 62.80m— a season best, but only good enough for the fourth place yet again. The 28-year-old started off with a throw of 60m, which placed him fourth on the standings.

While he did improve on his third attempt to achieve his best throw of the day, it wasn’t enough to give him a podium finish.

Another Indian thrower in the frsy, Sandip Sargar finished seventh with his best throw measuring 58.03m, which he achieved in his third attempt. He would be disappointed to have not crossed the 60m mark today.

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