NewDelhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday telephoned gold medallist SumitAntil and congratulated the javelin thrower for his spirit of resilience at theongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
SumitAntil very comprehensively won gold in the men’s javelin throw (Sport ClassF64) at National Stadium in Tokyo. Sumit dominated the show from the word go ashe improved the World Record three times in the final. He threw a monstrousthrow of 68.55m in his fifth attempt to climb on the top of the podium. ThePrime Minister also told Sumit that he has made the entire country proud andyoungsters would be inspired after seeing his performance.
Afterwinning a gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics, javelin thrower SumitAntil on Monday said that he is satisfied with his performance but wanted totouch the 70m mark.
“Iwanted to touch the 70m mark, but I am very happy with my performance. In onecompetition, I was able to break the World Record thrice. And I was also ableto win the gold medal, I cannot express how I am feeling right now, I am justnumb, to be honest,” Antil told the leading news agency.
Haryanaannounces Rs 6 crore cash reward
Meanwhile,the Haryana government has announced that it will honour gold medalist javelinthrower Sumit Antil with a cash reward of ₹6crore and silver medalist discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya with ₹4crore.
Sumitwho went first in the field gave an almost uphill task to all contenders as hestarted the final by breaking his own World Record with a throw of 66.95m. Theprevious World Record was 62.88m, which Sumit improved by almost 4 meters inhis very first attempt.
Sumitlooked like a man on a mission as he threw javelin for another World Record inthe second attempt of the final for 68.08m. The Indian improved the previousbest which he created on his first attempt by 1.13 meters. He then threw 65.27mand 66.71m in the third and fourth attempts.For his fifth attempt, the Indianagain went big and this time again shattered the World Record with a throw of68.55m.