Sumit Antil entered the World Para Athletics championships knowing his third consecutive World title was within reach. As a two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder in the F64 javelin throw, with a season’s best almost 25 meters ahead of his closest competitor, his primary challenge on day four was to surpass his own expectations.
He did just that, opening with a throw of 65.59m. Although he aimed for 75m, Sumit ultimately secured a new championship record with a final throw of 71.37m. This impressive distance was still a remarkable 22m clear of the second-best competitor, achieved despite a persistent neck and shoulder injury he visibly nursed between attempts.
Reflecting on his performance, Sumit shared, “I woke up with neck and shoulder pain two days ago and I’m incredibly grateful to my physio for enabling me to compete. The discomfort worsened during warm-up, so considering the circumstances, I am pleased to have at least set a new championship record.”
With plans to kick off the next season early in February, Sumit will now undergo an MRI to fully assess the extent of his shoulder injury. His gold medal was one of four India proudly claimed on what was their most productive day of the competition, including two golds.
In the F44 javelin category, Sandip Sargar and Sandeep Chaudhary delivered an outstanding 1-2 finish. Sandip earned his first World Championship medal, matching his personal best of 62.67m, while Sandeep secured his second World medal, having previously won gold in 2019 (62.82m). Unfortunately, world record holder Mahendra Gurjar finished a disappointing seventh.
Earlier in the morning session, Yogesh Kathuniya threw 42.49m to win silver in the discus throw F56. He finished behind Brazil’s five-time champion Claudine Batista, mirroring their results from the previous two editions.
Yogesh expressed his satisfaction, stating, “Honestly, today was the first time I had no target or pressure in mind. I simply wanted to perform my best in front of my family and friends, and I did, so I’m very happy.”
The results: Men:
- 100m T13: Shuta Kawakami (Jpn, 10.91s)
- 100m T44: Naif Almasrahi (KSA, 10.94s)
- 100m T64: Felix Streng (Ger, 10.73s)
- 100m T72: Carlo Calcagni (Ita, 14.80m)
- 200m T35: David Dzhatiev (NPA, 23.01s)
- 200m T37: Ricardo Mendonca (Bra, 22.77s)
- 400m T11: Guillaume Atangana (RPT, 51.95s)
- 400m T20: David Mejia (Esp, 47.12s)
- 400m T54: Yassine Gharbi (Tun, 44.96s)
- 1500m T13: Joel Gomez (USA, 3:57.71)
- 1500m T11: Yeltsin Jacques (Bra, 4:02.02)
- Discus Throw F56: Claudine Batista (Bra, 45.67m), Yogesh Kathuniya (42.49m)
- Shot Put F41: Niko Kappel (Ger, 13.34m)
- Shot Put F11: Amirhossein Darbeid (Iri, 14.59m), Sagar (7th, 11.74m), Monu Ghangas (10th, 10.87m)
- Long Jump T12: Fernando Vazquez (Arg, 7.01m), Vishu (6th, 6.24m)
- Javelin Throw F44: Sandip Sargar (62.82m), Sandeep Chaudhary (62.67m), Pushpendra Singh (4th, 61.94m), Mahendra Gurjar (7th, 57.84m)
- Javelin Throw F64: Sumit Antil (71.37m), Pardeep Kumar (5th, 42.72m)
Women:
- 100m T72: Magdalena Andruszkiewicz (Pol, 16.82m)
- 100m T36: Danielle Aitchison (Nzl, 13.43s)
- 200m T13: Orla Comerford (Irl, 24.71s)
- Shot Put F54: Gloria Zarza (Mex, 7.97m), Keerthika Jayachandran (6th, 6.25m)
- Shot Put F34: Lijuan Zou (Chn, 9.15m), Bhagyashri Jadhav (6th, 7.67m)
- Club Throw F32: Roza Kozakowska (Pol, 29.30m)
- Long Jump T63: Vanessa Low (Aus, 5.49m)