Who is Sumit Antil, the wrestler-turned-javelin thrower, and only the second Indian to defend a Paralympic gold?
Sumit Antil became only the third Indian to win two Paralympic golds, with the other two being shooter Avani Lekhara and Devendra Jhajharia, who won javelin throw F46 gold in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Games.
India's Sumit Antil on Monday became the first Indian man to defend the title as he won the F64 category gold in the Paralympics. Antil won the gold in javelin throw, with a new Paralympic record of 70.59m. Antil, who bettered his own Paralympic record of 68.55m set in Tokyo while winning the gold three years ago, on Monday became only the second athlete from India to defend their gold in the Paralympics.
CREDIT: ANI
Third Indian to win two Paralympic golds
The first to do so was shooter Avani Lekhara, who defended the Paralympics title in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event in Paris after winning a yellow metal in the same event in the Tokyo Games.
He also became only the third Indian to win two Paralympic golds, with the other two being shooter Lekhara and Devendra Jhajharia, who won javelin throw F46 gold in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Games.
Sumit Antil gets better and better with every throw ??#ParalympicGamesParis2024 #ParalympicsOnJioCinema #JioCinemaSports #Paris2024 #JavelinThrow pic.twitter.com/Pz0S3mJ4JC
¡ª JioCinema (@JioCinema) September 2, 2024
The 26-year-old Antil, who hails from Sonipat in Haryana, is also a world record holder in the category, which stands at 73.29m.
CREDIT: SAI MEDIA
Who is Sumit Antil
What makes Antil's world dominance even more impressive is how he adapted to adversities and made a spectacular comeback when life shattered in front of him.
Antil, who was a student of Delhi's Ramjas College, was also a promising wrestler. But his career on the mat was cut short in 2015 after he met with an accident, which resulted in the amputation of his leg below the knee.
CREIT: ANI
Sumit Antil vs Neeraj Chopra
He switched to para-athletics in 2018 and soon found his calling in javelin throw, where he became so good to the point he once even competed against Neeraj Chopra at the 2021 Indian Grand Prix series 3 in Patiala, where he finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43m. Chopra shattered his then-national record with a big effort of 88.07m.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
Read More
