Sumit Antil cherishes dream of competing in both Olympics & Paralympics at Paris 2024

Tokyo Paralympics 2020 gold medalist for India, Sumit Antil expressed his dream of competing in both the Olympics and Paralympics at the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris. He won the gold medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw F64 event of the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. The 23-year-old broke the world record thrice during the final at the Olympic Stadium and finished with a world-record throw of 68.55 meters. 

Olympics requires Javelin throw athletes to make a throw of 75-80 meters

As mentioned on the Paralympics official website, speaking after his gold medal win, Sumit Antil expressed that his dream is to represent India in the Olympics. So, he urged people to be ready and not to be surprised when they see him taking part in both the Olympics and Paralympics at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Speaking more on his ambitions, Antil added, " I’m confident of throwing between 75 to 80m and that should be enough to compete amongst the able-bodied athletes. I will be trying to do that for sure and then build my confidence".

Sumit Antil's World record throw

Antil started the Men’s Javelin Throw F64 finals on a high, throwing the javelin to a distance of 66.95 meters in his first attempt to set a new world record. He bettered with every attempt of his, before finishing with a throw of 68.55 meters. His fellow Indian participant Sandeep Chaudhary finished fourth in the event with a best throw of 62.20 meters. On the other hand, Australia’s Michal Burian won the silver medal with a throw of 66.29 meters and Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku took home the bronze medal with a throw of 65.61 meters.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day for India, India’s ace javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia claimed his third Olympic medal by winning the silver medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw F46 event. He won the silver medal by throwing the javelin to a distance of 64.35 meters. The bronze medal in the F46 category was won by India’s Sundar Singh with a best throw of 64.01 meters and the gold medal was clinched by Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Priyantha Herath with a record throw of 67.79 meters . Devendra Jhajharia has previously won two gold medals, in the 2004 Athen Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. The F46 class has been defined by the Olympics to consist of athletes who have disabilities in their arms. While, in the F64 category, athletes with leg deficiency can compete with a prosthetic leg. 

Image: AP