Kobe. Defending Paralympic champion Sumit Antil retained his world title in the F64 javelin throw event while Thangavelu Mariyappan and Ekta Bhayan also won gold medals in high jump and club throw respectively, taking India to third position at the World Para Athletics Championships here on Tuesday. .
India, which won five medals on the fifth day, has a total of 10 medals which includes four gold, four silver and two bronze medals. India is currently in third place after China (15 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze) and Brazil (14 gold, six silver and five bronze).
Sumit, who won gold medals in the Tokyo Paralympics and 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, won the gold medal by throwing the javelin to a distance of 69.50 meters.
25 year old Sumit from Haryana thus continued his global dominance in the F64 javelin throw event. He had also created a world record by throwing the javelin to a distance of 73.29 meters while winning the gold medal in the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year. The World Para Athletics Championship record of 70.83 meters is also in his name, which he made while winning the gold medal in Paris in the last season in 2023. Sumit’s compatriot Sandeep won the bronze medal in the same event with an effort of 60.41 metres, while Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuvaku won the silver medal with an effort of 66.49 metres.
Sumit maintained his lead throughout the match among nine players. He started with an effort of 68.17 meters and then achieved his personal best of 69.50 meters in his second attempt. In the next four attempts, he threw the javelin to a distance of 64.04 meters, 65.58 meters, 69.03 meters and 68.08 meters respectively. Sumit from Sonipat wanted to make a career in wrestling, but in 2015, when he was 17 years old, while returning home from tuition, his motorcycle was hit by a speeding truck. As a result, his left leg had to be amputated and he had to give up his dream of becoming a wrestler.
Tokyo Paralympics silver medalist Mariyappan then won the gold medal in T63 high jump with a championship record of 1.88 meters. This is his first gold medal in a major competition in eight years. America’s Ezra Frech and Sam Graves won silver and bronze medals respectively with efforts of 1.85m and 1.82m. At the age of five, Mariyappan suffered permanent disability in his right leg when a drunk bus driver crushed his leg while on his way to school.
Earlier, Ekta won the gold medal in women’s F51 club throw with a season’s best performance of 20.12. In the same event, India’s Kashish Lakra won the silver medal with a throw of 14.56 meters. Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officer Ekta had also won a bronze medal in the Hangzhou Para Asian Games. Ekta wanted to make a career in the field of medicine but an accident in 2003 broke her dream. The accident occurred near Kundli in Sonipat district when a truck overturned on his cab on the Delhi-Haryana border. The backbone of unity. She suffered a bone injury and takes the help of a wheelchair. Six other students died in the accident.