Tokyo: In his first Paralympics, Sumit Antil smashed his own world record multiple times for the F64 class gold in Tokyo Monday.
In training, I have thrown 71m, 72m, many times. I don’t know what happened in my competition. One thing is for sure: in future I will throw much better, Antil said after his great show.
Antil lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015. Son of a JWO officer in the Indian Army, Antil also competed against Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the able-bodied Indian Grand Prix series 3 on March 5 in Patiala where he finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43m.
In 2017, Sumit started training under Nitin Jaiswal in Delhi, and from then he started competing in various National and International platforms. Sumit displayed very early on that he had the skill and ability to exceed at javelin throw, and began to perform very well on the National circuit at different events despite his very young age. After witnessing his talent, hard work and potential, GoSports inducted him into the Para Champions Programme in 2019 and he has only got better since then.
In 2019, at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy, he created history when he broke the world record in the F64 category enroute to winning the Silver medal in the Combined Event, an incredible achievement. The pinnacle of his young career so far came when he clinched the Silver medal at World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai, 2019 and in the process broke his own world record in the F64 category.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate him on the spectacular win in Tokyo Paralympics.
Our athletes continue to shine at the #Paralympics! The nation is proud of Sumit Antil’s record-breaking performance in the Paralympics. Congratulations Sumit for winning the prestigious Gold medal. Wishing you all the best for the future, tweeted Modi.
Former Olympic Gold winner Abhinav Bindra tweeted, ‘Another Gold for India! Sumit Antil breaking the world record thrice in the men’s javelin F64! Absolutely astonishing display of strength to cap off an excellent day for India in the #Tokyo2020 Paralympics! Take a bow young man! #Praise4Para’.