Lacking top competition, Sumit Antil still does what he does best — sets a new record and wins gold for India

Very few athletes in the world, let alone in para sports, are as relentless in their pursuit of setting the highest standards as two-time Paralympic gold medallist Sumit Antil. The 27-year-old javelin thrower from Haryana has broken the Men’s F64 World Record 13 times in his career, starting from 2019 at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy.

In that event in Italy, Antil, who competes in the category for athletes with moderately affected movement in one or both lower legs or the absence of legs below the knee, hurled the spear 60.45m far but came second as the gold went to a F44 category competitor.

So he had a massive advantage on Monday at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Delhi during the World Para Athletics Championships 2025, as the F44 category has been separated from the F64. Sumit had defeated two F44 category athletes at the Paras 2024 Paralympics to win a second consecutive gold, while breaking his previous Games record three times.

But competing in front of India’s first Olympic gold medalist, Neeraj Chopra, Sumit was up against six other athletes who had never touched the 50m mark. Sumit’s best is a World Record 73.29m, which helped him win the gold at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.

This isn’t Sumit’s fault that categories have been separated and that his toughest competitors have been moved to a different event. For Antil, who has always tried to push the envelope and make the impossible look possible, it was just another opportunity to set the bar higher.

Sumit Antil vs Sumit Antil at World Para Athletics

A new World Record was his only goal. However, after fighting excruciating pain in his right arm that stretched up to his neck, Sumit still clinched the gold with a new Championship Record throw of 71.37m on his fifth attempt. He also managed three throws over 65m in the first four attempts.

This is his third World Championships gold for the Sonipat athlete and the most for an Indian.

“When I woke up the day before yesterday, my hand and neck were sore. I don’t know what happened,” Antil told the media. “Maybe I slept in the wrong position. I don’t know. But at the end, I am happy that I got the Championship Record.”

“In the warm-up, the throw that I threw with full power, I got a lot of pain in my neck. But I was trying to break the World Record and the championship record. So when I broke it, I was very happy.

“This is the decision of the organising committee. Which category to merge and which not to merge. I was fighting with myself.”

Antil wants to go where no one has been

Despite the sore arm that repeatedly forced him to stop for stretching, Antil’s focus on creating a new record made his performance exemplary, a display of clear purpose and determination.

“See, we are trying to go as far as we can as a para-athlete,” Antil shared. “Because I have heard a lot that a para-athlete cannot throw so well. So we are looking for an answer to that question.

“Because no one thought that a para athlete could throw 70 meters when I started the game. Now that is happening. So we will try to make it 75 or 80 in the future.”

Para Athletics, World Championships: The GOAT of Javelin throw, Sumit Antil, registers a CR to win🥇in the men’s Javelin (F64) final..

What a spectacular performance by Sumit to win a historical gold..

Margin of win = 22.99 meters!

👏🇮🇳🥇 pic.twitter.com/DZtUx1nlcq

— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) September 30, 2025

Antil took to para javelin in 2018 after meeting an unfortunate motorbike accident in 2015, when he was an able-bodied wrestler and a student of Delhi’s Ramjas College. As a result of the accident, Sumit was forced to amputate his left leg below the knee.

The silver in the event went to Tomas Felipe Soto Mina (48.38m) of Colombia, while Kazakhstan’s Rufat Khabibullin (47.14m) won the bronze.

Elsewhere, Sandip Sanjay Sargar and former world champion Sandeep Cahudahry made it a one-two finish for India in the Men’s Javelin Throw F44 competition, while two-time Paralympics silver medallist Yogesh Kathuniya clinched a silver in Men’s Discus Throw F56.

So far India have won nine medals at the 2025 World Para Athletics’ Championships, including four gold, four silver and a bronze. Brazil lead the standings with 27 medals and seven gold, followed by Poland (12 medals and six gold) and China (16 medals and five gold) in second and third, respectively.