(Paralympics news) After breaking the world record 3 times in the Men's Javelin F64 final, Sumit Antil wants to break all sports barriers and prove to the world that no disability can stop him from achieving his goal of qualifying for the Paris Olympics in 2024. The 23 year old from Haryana who lost his left foot in a motorbike accident in 2015 did not stop him from making sure that the Indian National Anthem was heard for the second time in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
Sumit started the final of the men's javelin F64 by breaking the world record in his first attempt where he managed to throw 66.95m and bettered it with a throw of 68.08m, he then stored his best in his penultimate attempt where he threw 68.55m. Sumit is hungry for more as he claims that he has already reached the 70m mark but he believes he can get close to the 80m mark and even try going as high as 85m. In fact Sumit has always been competing in abled body events as this year he participated in the Indian Grand Prix where he competed with the Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra.
Sumit after winning the gold medal said that "Don’t be surprised to see me at Paris 2024 taking part in both Olympics and Paralympics. That’s my dream". Sumit also went on to point out that he is confident of bridging the gap between Neeraj's Olympic gold medal winning throw of 87.58m and his paralympic throw. Sumit who initially started out to be a wrestler but after his accident in 2015 he took up Para – Javelin, stressed that there is a lot more he can learn and improve his technique to achieve his dream of throwing 80m.
Sumit also said that “If we talk about the able-bodied athletes, their Gold was won at 87m and ours is 68m and there's a difference of 18-19m in our records,"
"My main goal is to bring down this gap as much as I can. In the upcoming years, I will try my best to get closer to the 85m mark. I will try my level best to achieve that and reduce the gap, in order to set a benchmark in Paralympics and change people's perception of Paralympics.
"I firmly believe I can get closer to the 80m-mark. I am able to throw 70m. My coach keeps telling me that the peak for a javelin thrower is around 28 years of age. I am just 23 and I have 5 more years. I started javelin only 3 – 4 years ago. There is a lot of technical stuff that I can learn.
"I want to go back and start from the basics. I want to get over the small, small mistakes. Right now, I am relying on power to throw. To get to the 80m-mark, there are a few small things that I need to work on. I want to work on basics and technique."
Also read: It was not my best, says Sumit Antil after winning Paralympic gold with world record throw
If Sumit in the next 3 years improves and actually achieves his dream, then he’ll become only the second Paralympian after Oscar Pistorius to participate in the Olympics. The new wave or fever of Javelin throw in India is led by these individuals as we are slowly but steadily becoming a powerhouse in Javelin throw and soon will be compared to the likes of Germany and Czech Republic who have been producing the best Javelin throwers over the past 30 years.
Inputs from PTI
