Sumit Antil is a wrestler turned javelin thrower. He broke the world record of throwing the javelin up to a particular distance and scripted history, making India proud.
Who is Sumit Antil?
Sumit Antil is an Indian Paralympian and javelin thrower. He was born on 6th July 1998 in Khewda, Sonipat, India. In 2015, he was enlisted in the disabled category as he lost his left leg below the knee. This unfortunate incident occurred because he was involved in a bike accident.
Sumit is supported by the GoSports Foundation through the para champions program. Another para-athlete named Rajkumar introduced him to Para athletics. He was pursuing his B.Com in Delhi at that time.
How did Sumit Antil become a javelin thrower?
In the year 2017, Sumit started to train under Nitin Jaiswal in Delhi. From that time itself, he started competing for various National and International platforms. From the very early days, Sumit displayed talent which vouched for the fact that he had the skill and ability to succeed at Javelin throw. Despite his very young age, he began to perform very well on the National circuit at different events. After being a witness to his talent, hard work, and potential, the GoSports Foundation inducted him into the Para Champions Programme in 2019. He has only got better since then.
Sumit’s breaking of world records
In 2019, Sumit created history. He broke the world record in the F64 category at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy. Then he won the Silver medal in the Combined Event which was a great achievement for him. He reached the peak of his young career when he grabbed the Silver medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2019. In this competition, he broke his own set world record in the F64 category.
Sumit Antil’s performance in 2021 Tokyo Paralympics
On Monday, 30th August, Sumit Antil broke the world record not once, not twice, but thrice. He did this during the final round of javelin’s throw at the Tokyo Paralympics. In his first attempt itself, he broke the world record by throwing the javelin at a distance of 66.95 meters. He bettered his performance with his second throw. In his fifth attempt, he again set a new world record with a throw of 68.55 meters. His fellow Indian Sandeep Chaudhary finished fourth. His best throw was that of 62.20 meters.
Actually, Sumit laid down the marker with his first throw itself which put him in the lead. It also broke the existing world record which he, himself set beforehand. He then broke his just set world record with his second throw. In the second attempt, the javelin went up to 68.08 meters.
His third and fourth attempts were that of 65.27 meters and 66.71 meters respectively. But he had already sealed the gold medal with none of his competitors threatening his position too much. His fifth attempt set the world record for the third time in the day. Thus, he ensured India’s second gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics and won the hearts of the Indians.
