Tokyo Paralympics: India’s Sumit Antil wins gold medal in Javelin Throw, Sets World Record thrice in five attempts

India’s Sumit Antil wins second gold for the country at Tokyo Olympics on Monday with a world record throw of 68.55m in the Javelin Throw- F 64 event. Interestingly, he broke his record thrice during the five attempts in the F-64 final. While his first attempt of 66.95m was a world record, he bettered it in the second attempt with 68.08m and set a new world record in the fifth attempt with 68.55m.

Silver medal goes to Michal Burian of Australia (66.29) and bronze was taken by Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku (65.61m). Another Indian Sandeep Chaudhary finishes fourth in this event with 62.20m.

The F-64 category is for athletes with a leg amputation, who competes with prosthetics in a standing position. Sumit, 23, who hails from Haryana, lost his left leg below the knee in a motorbike accident in 2015.

Despite Sumit’s gold win, India’s medal tally stands at 7, as Discuss Thrower Vinod Kumar loses his bronze medal after declared ineligible in classification reassessment.

Vinod, the 41-year-old BSF man, had won bronze medal in the Men’s Discuss Throw F-52 category with a best performance of 19.91m. As his result was challenged by some competitors, the competition reassessed his disability classification and found him ineligible for F-52 category.