 "India's Sumit Antil reacts during the men's javelin throw F64 final during the Paralympic Games in Stade de France, Paris. Reuters")
Sumit Antil successfull defended his men’s javelin F64 title in dominant fashion in the Paris Paralympics on Monday with a best throw of 70.59 metres.
Paris Paralympics 2024: News | Medal Tally | India Schedule
Antil, who had been India’s male flag-bearer in the opening ceremony last Wednesday, broke the Paralympic record with a throw of 69.11 metres in his first attempt.
The 26-year-old para-javelin star from Haryana would then improve his own record in his very next throw by becoming the first to breach the 70-metre mark in the event in Paralympic history.
Antil would then register throws measuring 66.66m and 69.04m in his third and fifth attempts, fouling in his fourth throw.
India nearly won two medals in the event, with Sandeep (F44 category) finishing fourth in the event with a best throw of 62.80m in his third attempt.
Sandip Sanjay Sargar was the third India competing in the event and he finished seventh with a best attempt of 58.03m.
Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku won silver with a best throw of 67.03m, a world record for the F44 category while Australia’s Michal Burian — also an F44 athlete — took home bronze with a best effort of 64.89m.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAntil joins an elite club
Reigning world champion Antil is the second Indian overall after shooter Avani Lekhara to defend the Paralympics title. Avani had won gold in women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event in Paris after winning a yellow metal in the same event in Tokyo Games.
He also joined an exclusive three-member club of Indians who have won two Paralympics gold. Besides Antil and Avani, the third member of the group is current Paralympic Committee of India President Devendra Jhajharia who won javelin throw F46 gold in 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Games.
The wrestler-turned-javelin thrower clinched India’s third gold of the Paris Paralympics and first in para-athletics. It was India’s fifth medal from para-athletics here.
Antil destroyed the field with his second round throw of 70.59m. He had two other big throws of 69.11m in his opening attempt and 69.04m in his fifth effort, both bettering his earlier Paralympic record.
Antil, though, could not breach the 75m mark, the target he had set before going to the Paris Games.
F64 category is for athletes with problems in the lower limb(s), those competing with prosthesis or affected by leg length difference.
Antil lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015. A student of Delhi’s Ramjas College, Antil was an able-bodied wrestler before his accident which led to amputation of his leg below the knee.
A para athlete in his village initiated him to the sport in 2018.
He even competed against Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra in the able-bodied Indian Grand Prix series 3 on March 5, 2021 in Patiala. He had finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43m while Chopra shattered his then-national record with a big effort of 88.07m.
Earlier in the day, Yogesh Kathuniya clinched his second consecutive Paralympic silver medal in men’s discus throw F-56 event with a season’s best effort 42.22m.
The 27-year-old hurled the discus to the podium-clinching distance in his very first attempt to add to the silver he won in Tokyo.
Brazil’s Claudiney Batista dos Santos registered a hat-trick of Paralympic gold medals, creating a new Games record with an effort of 46.86m in his fifth attempt.
The other Indian competing in para-athletics on Monday was Kanchan Lakhani, who finished seventh in the women’s discus throw F53 event with a personal best effort of 10.06m.
With PTI inputs