Star javelin thrower Sumit Antil became the first Indian man and second from the country to defend his title after winning the Javelin Throw F64 category gold with a Paralympics record of 70.59 metres in Paris on Monday.
The 26-year-old World record holder from Sonipat in Haryana bettered his own Paralympics best of 68.55m, set in Tokyo while winning the gold medal three years ago.
Antil's World record is 73.29 metres.
The reigning World champion is the second Indian overall, after shooter Avani Lekhara, to defend a Paralympics crown.
Avani won gold in women's 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 event in Paris. She won the yellow metal in the same event at the Tokyo Games.
Antil also joined an exclusive three-member club of Indians who have won two Paralympics gold. Besides Antil and Avani, the third member of the group is current Paralympics Committee of India President Devendra Jhajharia, who won the javelin throw F46 gold in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Games.
Antil also won gold in the World Para Athletics Championships in 2023 and 2024, besides standing on top of podium in last year's Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.
The wrestler-turned-javelin thrower clinched India's third gold of the Paris Paralympics and first in para-athletics. It was India's fifth medal from para-athletics at the ongoing Games.
Antil destroyed the field with his second round throw of 70.59m. He had two other big throws, of 69.11m in his opening attempt and 69.04m in his fifth, both bettering his earlier Paralympics record.
He, however, could not breach the 75m mark, the target he had set before going to the Paris Games.
Dulan Kodithuwakku of Sri Lanka took the silver with 67.03m while Michal Burian of Australia won the bronze with a throw of 64.89m.
Two other Indians in the fray, Sandeep and Sandip Sanjay Sargar, finished fourth and seventh with throws of 62.80m and 58.03m respectively.
The F64 category is for athletes with problems in the lower limb(s), those competing with prosthesis or affected by leg length difference.
Antil lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015. A student of Delhi's Ramjas College, he was an able-bodied wrestler before the accident, which led to amputation of his leg below the knee.
A para-athlete in his village initiated him to the sport in 2018. He even competed against Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra in the able-bodied Indian Grand Prix series 3 on March 5, 2021 in Patiala. He finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43m while Chopra shattered his then National record with a big effort of 88.07m.
