Sumit Antil clinched India’s second gold at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics, shattering the men’s javelin throw F64 world record three times in six attempts in a dominant Games debut performance on Monday.
The 23-year-old from Sonepat in Haryana, who lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015, sent the spear to 68.55m in his fifth attempt, which was the best of the day by quite a distance and a new world record.
In fact, he bettered the previous world record of 62.88m – also set by him in 2019 – five times on the day. His last throw was a foul. His series before that read 66.95, 68.08, 65.27, 66.71, 68.55.
India at Tokyo Paralympics, day 6 live updates
It was a stunning performance at the same stadium where javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra became India’s first Olympic champion in athletics earlier this month. In a much similar fashion, Antil dominated the final from his first throw and kept growing as it went on.
Here’s a look at some of the reactions:
SPEECHLESS 🤩
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 30, 2021
🔥 Sumit Antil sets a WR with his first 66.95m throw!
🔥 Breaks his OWN WR with his second 68.08m attempt!
🔥 Breaks it yet AGAIN in his 5th attempt with 68.55m
🔥 Wins the Men's Javelin F64 #Gold for #IND! #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics #ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/q3Nl2m1dLM
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
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 30, 2021
ख़तरनाक performance भाई सुमित 👌💪 proud of you 🇮🇳 https://t.co/CNUDDtPAc7
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 30, 2021
#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics
— The Field (@thefield_in) August 30, 2021
Sumit Antil with a performance to remember. 👏🏽
Guess we will all be watching this in loop for a while!
🎥 DD Sports / PCI pic.twitter.com/fmcNoaxmxB
🇮🇳 India + Javelin Throw = ❤️
— #ParaAthletics #Tokyo2020 (@ParaAthletics) August 30, 2021
Sumit Sumit smashes the men’s javelin F64 world record and takes first #ParaAtheltics 🥇 for @ParalympicIndia !
Three weeks ago, @Neeraj_chopra1 won India’s first ever🥇in #athletics at #Tokyo2020 @olympics also in the javelin throw. pic.twitter.com/yJ8a7nXThn
Earlier this year, Sumit Antil had competed in the third leg of the Indian Grand Prix (after getting the permission from Para national body), alongside the likes of Neeraj Chopra, Shivpal Singh and finished seventh with a throw of 66.43m.
— Hari Priya CR (@cr_hariPriya) August 30, 2021
Sumit Antil wanted to make it to the Olympics as a Wrestler but in 2015, he met with a bike accident which ensured his dreams were dashed
— Aniket Mishra (@aniketmishra299) August 30, 2021
He took up throwing javelin later and got so good that he competes with able bodied athletes in the nationals
A world record smasher today🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/F32mlUllXn
Congratulations Sumit Antil is golden moment k lie. #Paralympics #GoldMedal https://t.co/fyVWX0XGIk
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) August 30, 2021
World record over world record... First throw makes one with 66.95 and second throw breaks it with 68+ ... God #SumitAntil is rocking the @Paralympics @Tokyo2020hi @ianuragthakur @Media_SAI @NisithPramanik @IndiaSports @narendramodi @PTI_News pic.twitter.com/sZ1dHKPF3V
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) August 30, 2021
Breaks records & wins Gold 🥇 Medal! 👏 👏
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 30, 2021
Take a bow, Sumit Antil! 🙌 🙌
The entire nation 🇮🇳 is proud of you! 👍 👍#Paralympics #Tokyo2020 #Cheer4India #Praise4Para @IndiaSports | @Media_SAI https://t.co/oGM27SXFeQ
The most glorious day for India ever in sports history !
— Sumit (@sumitsaurabh) August 30, 2021
Day is 30-08-2021 #Paralympics #india
Medals won by India at eight Paralympics between 1988 and 2016 - 7
— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) August 30, 2021
Medals won by India so far at #TokyoParalympics - 7#Paralympics
68.55 > 68.08 > 66.95 = 🥇
— Chennai Super Kings - Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) August 30, 2021
The Sumit for WR kept getting higher! 👏 Antil Next Time, Veni Vidi Vici! #Paralympics #WhistleforIndia #Yellove 🦁 pic.twitter.com/Ve4fP1douq