If an athlete could be awarded multiple medals for their throws, Sumit Antil would have won gold, silver and bronze. Such was Sumit's form on Monday evening that he shattered the Paralympic record twice enroute his gold medal in the men's F64 category javelin throw at the Paris Paralympics.
Sumit defended his gold medal with a best attempt of 70.59m and became only the second Indian, after Avani Lekhara, to retain his Paralympic title.
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It was always going to be Sumit Antil vs Sumit Antil. His personal best of 73.29m [also the world record] and his season's best of 69.50m were both the best in the 10-man field. Here's how he went about doing what he does best, breaking records and winning golds -
Attempt #1: Sumit is a picture of calm and oozed confidence. He had the crowd chanting his name as he raced down the runway, executed a perfect block and instantly raised his hands the moment the javelin left his throwing arm [ahem, where have we seen that before?]. The javelin landed 69.11m away and it marked a new Paralympic record.
Attempt #2: An exact replay of the first throw, but this time the javelin went further. His muscular shoulders [more like boulders] flung the javelin 70.59m for yet another Paralympic record. Sumit's had his hands raised in celebration once again, much to the crowd's joy. They wanted their money's worth, and Sumit was putting on quite the show. Oh, and the second-best throw at this point was Australia's Michal Burian...64.89m.
Attempt #3: His weakest throw of the evening so far...but even that was enough to win him gold at this point. Remember how Sumit had broken the world record thrice to win gold in Tokyo? His best on that night was 68.55m....Sumit had gone past that twice today. He was in cruise control.
Attempt #4: It looked good, around the 67m range, but Sumit deliberately crossed the line and had the attempt chalked off. It wasn't good enough for him and he didn't want a below-par throw [by his lofty standards] on his scorecard. With two Paralympic record-breaking throws, Sumit still had a comfortable lead at the top.
Attempt #5: The reigning champion tightened his waist belt, cocked his shoulder and strode down the track...the result was a massive 69.04m throw. Sumit, though, didn't look all that happy, he perhaps wanted to break that world record, that has been his for four years, again. His approach wasn't the best on this throw and his follow-through was a little off-balance, but it still ranked as the third-best throw among all 10 competitors.
Attempt #6: With virtually nothing to lose, Sumit's final throw is funnily his weakest of the night - 66.57m - but it just doesn't matter. Sumit had become the first Indian javelin thrower to retain his gold medal at the Paralympics and Olympics. What followed is a familiar sight: Sumit Antil posing with the Indian flag beside a digital sign board that said he won with a record-breaking attempt.