Sumit Antil, who has participated in able-bodied events including the Indian Grand Prix, said his goal is to qualify for both the Paralympic Games and the Olympics in 2024 and he will begin his training once he returns to India. Indian javelin thrower Sumit Antel now wants to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Paris Olympics three years from now. The 23-year-old from Sonipat shown his impressive performance on Monday when he broke his own world record not once but five times to take gold in the men's F64 javelin with a throw of 68.55 meters. Antel, who has participated in able-bodied events including the Indian Grand Prix, said his goal is to qualify for both the Paralympic Games and the Olympics in 2024 and will begin his training once he returns to the country. During my training, I have been touching the 70m-mark. And I dream of throwing between 75 to 80m and that should be enough to compete amongst the able-bodied athletes. “I wish to take part in both the Olympics and Paralympics. That’s my dream,” Antil, who lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015, said in a release issued by Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). “Once I return from Tokyo, I will be training for that for sure,” he added. If Sumit is allowed to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, he will compete against countryman Neeraj Chopra, who recently won gold medal in men's javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics. Interestingly, as the son of a JWO officer in the Indian Army, Antel competed against Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in the able-bodied 3rd series of the Indian Grand Prix on March 5 at Patiala, where he finished seventh with a best throw of 66.43 meters. On Tuesday, Antel broke the previous world record of 62.88 meters, which is also set by him, five times a day. His last throw was a foul. His series read 66.95, 68.08, 65.27, 66.71, 68.55 and foul.Also Read- Shooter Avani Lekhara First Indian Woman To Win Gold At Paralympics"At the 2019 World Para-Athletics Championships, I settled for silver. I always wanted to win the gold medal," said Antel, who was inspired by Neeraj Chopra medal show. "My coach told me to be aggressive at the Paralympic Games. I'm glad I was able to finally come out with a good performance and inspire the upcoming generation." It was very hot and humid that day in Tokyo, but Antil never looked bothered. "During the pandemic, I got special permission from the Sports Authority of India to train at home. I was prepared for all conditions - hot and humid. I trained late at night and this paid off well," said Antel, who hails from Sonepat. The Haryana athlete now hopes that Paralympic gold will give him a job once he returns to India. "Currently, I am unemployed and I am doing full-time training but I hope to get a job after this. Let's see what happens when I return to India," he signed off.Also Read- US Open 2021: Naomi Osaka kicks off title defence with straight sets win over Marie Bouzkova
Avani Lekhara followed her women's 10m air rifle standing (SH1) gold with a bronze medal in women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 on Friday. Lekhara was the first Indian woman to win Paralympic gold and now she is the first Indian woman to win two medals in the same edition of the Games. The 19-year-old finished fourth when the field fell in the last four and finished third with a decisive shot of 10.5. She finished with a score of 445.9 while Ukraine's Iryna Schetnik, whose rifle finals world record Lekhara earlier equaled on the way to her gold in the event, finished fourth with 435.3. China's Cuiping Zhang won the gold medal with 457.9 points at the Paralympic Games, while Germany's Natasha Hiltrop scored 457.1 to win the silver medal. Lekhara ranked sixth in the final stage of the competition. She did well on the standing series during qualification and continued down the same path, gradually working her way up to the bronze medal challenge. He then swapped positions with Schetnik before taking third place in the final stages of the competition.Also Read- Shooter Avani Lekhara First Indian Woman To Win Gold At Paralympics She previously won the country's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 10-meter air rifle. She shot a total score of 249.6 in the final, which equaled the world record set by Shchetnik in December 2018. The 19-year-old recovered well after a slow start. The Tokyo Paralympic Games marked India's best performance in a single edition of the Games, easily surpassing the country's best previous performance of four at the 2016 Rio Games. Lekhara and javelin thrower Sumit Antel won gold, while high jumper Praveen Kumar won India sixth silver medal on Friday. Bhavina Patel, javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya, high jumpers Mariyappan Thangavellu and Nishad Kumar are the other Indian silver medalists.Javelin thrower Sundar Singh Gurjar, high jumper Sharad Kumar and thrower Singhraj won bronze medal..@AvaniLekhara, you beauty! #IND's ace shooter claims a second medal in R8 - Women's 50m Rifle 3P SH1, winning #Bronze with a score of 445.9! 12 medals for ! #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics #ShootingParaSport pic.twitter.com/sJ51rQpky1— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) September 3, 2021Meet The phenomenal young Legend!! With this #Bronze medal in 50M Rifle 3P SH1 just days after her Gold, @AvaniLekhara becomes the First Ever Indian woman to win 2 medals in the same Games @paralympics!!! #Praise4Para@shootingparasport #Paralympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/hzll4lftNp— Paralympic India #Cheer4India #Praise4Para (@ParalympicIndia) September 3, 2021Also Read- England vs India, 4th Test Day 1: Shardul Thakur breaks Ian Botham's record, hits fastest Test fifty in England
