Picture Credit: Twitter
On Saturday at the fifth Indian Open Para Athletics International Championships in Bengaluru, Sumit Antil shattered his own world record in the F64 javelin throw category. With a throw of more than 70m, he eclipsed his own record of 68.62m set in the 2022 edition. His throw of 70.17m guaranteed him a spot in the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Sumit Antil said that the 68.55m effort that won him the gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 was a long way from his best.
Pushpendra Singh and Yogesh Kathuniya also broke records while advancing to the 2023 World Athletics Championships. In the men's F55-57 discus throw, Yogesh set a new world record of 46.79m, while Pushpendra set a new mark of 61.60m in the men's F43 javelin. In the men's discus throw F55 category, Neeraj Yadav surpassed his own Asian record with a mark of 38.51m, which was seven centimetres longer than his previous best. Neeraj has also qualified for the World Championships with his performance.
It is to be noted that Antil began training with Nitin Jaiswal in Delhi in 2017 and competed on a variety of national and international stages. On the National circuit, he started competing in the javelin, and in 2019, GoSports accepted him into the Para Champions Programme. The 24-year-old Sumit Antil was also conferred with the fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri after his gold medal at the 2020 summer paralympics.
