After Clinching A Stunning Gold In Javline’s Men’s F64 Category, Sumit Antil Happy To Break World Record

Picture : Paraathletics/Twitter

Breaking the world record five times on his way to gold in the Paralympics did not suffice for reluctant-wrestler-turned-javelin-thrower Sumit Antil and the Indian vowed to better what was already an incredible performance by every yardstick.

The 23-year-old clinched India’s second gold at the ongoing Paralympics in Tokyo on Monday, shattering the men’s F64 category world record multiple times in a stunning Games debut performance of 68.55m.

A performance that was lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet

He was a wrestler prior to a motorcycle accident that resulted in his left leg being amputated, before life smiled on him and a new avenue opened up.

“I was not that great a wrestler. In my area of India, the family forces you to become a wrestler,” he quipped.

“I started when I was seven, eight years old, and I continued for four or five years, but not regularly. I was not that good,” Antil said.

“I met with an accident and had my leg amputated. After that, life changed. I went to the stadium just to meet people in 2015, and I saw para athletes. They said, ‘You have good height and posture, maybe you can be in the next Paralympics’. Who knew I would be the next champion?”

He did become a champion on Monday, and that too, at the sport’s grandest stage.

“This is my first Paralympics and I was a little nervous because the competitors are great. I was hoping for a 70-metre-plus throw, maybe I can do 75m. It was not my best, I am very happy to break the world record.”

This was not the first time he was making the javelin travel far.

A few months before the Tokyo Games, within a span of 20 days, Haryana’s Antil had broken the world record twice in the F-64 category.

In his sixth and last attempt he hurled the javelin to a distance of 66.90 metres at the 19th Para-Athletics Championships at Bengaluru in March.