If an athlete could win more medals for throwing, Sumit Antil would have won gold, silver and bronze. Sumit was in such good form on Monday evening that he broke two Paralympic records en route to his gold medal in the men’s F64 rifle event at the Paris Paralympics. Sumit defended his gold medal with a personal best of 70.59m and became the second Indian, after Avani Lekhara, to retain his Paralympic title.
It will be Sumit Antil against Sumit Antil. His personal best of 73.29 m [also a world record] and his best time of 69.50 m are the best among 10 men. Here’s how he did his best, breaking records and winning gold medals.
Attempt 1
Sumit is the epitome of calmness and self-confidence. He had the crowd chanting his name as he ran down the street, doing a full block, and immediately raised his hand as soon as the spear left his arm [um, where have we seen that before him?] . The javelin landed 69.11 m from him, setting a new Paralympic record.
Attempt 2
An exact repeat of the first, but this time, the spear went further. His muscular [stone-like] shoulder threw the javelin 70.59 m, setting a new Paralympic record. Sumit raised his hand again to celebrate his achievement, much to the cheers of the crowd. They wanted their money’s worth, and Sumit made a presentation. Oh, and the second best throw of that time was by Australian Michal Burian… 64.89m.
Attempt 3
His strongest throw of the night so far… but even that was enough to win the gold this time. Remember how Sumit broke the world record three times to win gold in Tokyo? His best time that evening was 68.55m… Sumit surpassed that record twice today. He is in cruise control mode.
Attempt 4
Good, around 67m, but Sumit deliberately goes over the line and misses the attempt. He didn’t have enough and he didn’t want a below average grade [by his high standards] and his grades. Having broken the Paralympic record by two laps, Sumit still has a good shot at the top.
