 "Rinku Hooda won the Men's Javelin Throw F46 gold medal at the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 in Delhi. Image: World Para Athletics Championships")
India missed a podium sweep by a whisker at the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 on Monday as Rinku Hooda clinched the gold in the Men’s Javelin Throw F46 final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi, while Sundar Singh Gurjar came second to take home the silver.
Cuba’s Guillermo Varona Gonzalez won the bronze, but Paralympics silver medallist Ajeet Singh could not push into the third place despite lung-busting efforts in front of passionate fans who once again created a boisterous environment in a scantily filled stadium. The F46 classification includes athletes competing in a standing position with arm deficiencies, impaired muscle power, or limited arm movement.
Rinku clinched the gold with a Championship Record of 66.37m, while two-time Paralympic bronze medallist Sundar recorded a best attempt of 64.76m, his season best. Gonzalez recorded a season best as well (64.76m) and Ajeet had a highest throw of 61.77m.
Rinku beats destiny as India win gold and silver
Amazingly, Sundar is the world record holder in this category with a throw of 68.60m, but it was Rinku’s day as the 26-year-old from Rohtak’s Dhamar village won his first gold medal at a mega event. A two-time Asian Para Games silver medallist, Rinku also stood second on the podiums at the 2023 and 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris and Kobe, respectively, but destiny had a different plan for him in the home event.
“I was waiting for this for the last 3-4 years,” Rinku told the media. “Every time I was winning silver. (There’s) nothing technical that I changed, it was all about replicating what I learnt in practice.”
Rinku has been a para-athlete since 2013, beginning his journey at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Rohtak. A journey that has brought purpose to his life after he lost his arm at the tender age of three in a threshing machine accident.
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It’s been a long time since the accident, and Rinku has well and truly moved on. Despite the loss of his left arm restricting his movement in many ways, he broke into the iconic ‘Siuuu’ — Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark celebration — after his win.
“I won’t lie, I was copying Ronaldo. It was a dream that I would also do it if I won gold.”
The conditions at the JLN Stadium in Delhi, where the wind decided to stay away, also contributed to four athletes touching their personal bests, while seven recorded season bests in a competition that included 11 participants.
“At the very start, I knew throws would be good…we had earlier practices on the Mondo track (in Delhi), so it helped. I was aiming for 67-68m throw, but it’s good that I won gold at 66m,” Rinku revealed.
Two more medals on Monday have taken India’s World Para Athletics Championships 2025 tally to five, including two gold. India are sixth in the table, while China are at the top with 14 medals and four gold.
Brazil (13 medals, including four gold) and Poland (eight medals, including four gold) are second and third, respectively.
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