CHENNAI: It is as if winning gold has become a habit for Sumit Antil. The back pain that had been afflicting him for the last one-and -a-half year vanished. He was focussed on the job in hand — retaining gold at the Paris Paralympics. And he did it in style when he threw the javelin to 70.59 m — a new Paralympics record. It had not been easy. During a virtual interaction, he revealed that he felt more pressure in Paris than in Tokyo. Perhaps, it’s the burden of expectations on Monday in his F46 event.
There are quite a few things that separate Sumit from the rest. He is one of those para-athletes who previously competed against able-bodied athletes. One among the competitors was Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic silver medallist. During the interaction he revealed that he keeps speaking with Neeraj and the champion javelin thrower had given him an advice or two before the Paralympics.
He said that he has been in touch with Neeraj but before the Parlympics he did not speak to him directly but through his manager. “I got a message from Neeraj bhai through someone and he told me that the atmosphere (in Paris) is good,” said Sumit. He also asked him to not try anything new. “I just took his advice and it was a really good experience.”
Sumit also spoke about how he created a para world record while competing against able-bodied athletes in Patiala during a Grand Prix event in 2021. “I threw some 66.43 m and that time it was a record. I wanted to find out how it feels to compete with able-bodied athletes.”
With gold secured, he has set sights on a three-peat at the LA Paralympics as his next target. But crossing 80 m too would be one of his dreams. Sumit is the second para athlete after shooter Avani Lekhara to defend their title. Lekhara on Tuesday finished fifth in 50m 3P.