In the town of Sonepat, Haryana, Sumit Antil grew up with a deep love for wrestling, driven by the achievements of Haryana’s own Yogeshwar Dutt, a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. Despite losing his father at the tender age of seven, he held fast to his dream of one day representing India on the international stage.
However, on 5 January, 2015, when Sumit was just 17, his life took an unexpected turn. A tractor ran over him as he was returning home on his motorbike, resulting in the amputation of his left leg.
After enduring a gruelling 53-day recovery and receiving a prosthetic leg at the Artificial Limb Centre in Pune, Sumit was committed to making a comeback to sports.
In 2017, Sumit was introduced to the world of para-athletics by Rajkumar, a local para-athlete. Soon, Sumit’s formal training in para javelin began under coach Nitin Jaiswal. By 2018, he had transitioned to training under javelin coach Naval Singh at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, after being introduced by silver medalist Virender Dhankar from the 2018 Asian Games.
His journey to mastering the javelin was anything but easy—his prosthetic leg would often fill with blood, causing intense pain and discomfort. Yet, every morning at 3 am, he practised relentlessly with one goal in mind: to shatter the world record.
His efforts paid off when, in 2019, he secured a silver medal at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy, setting a world record of 60.45m in the F64 category. Later that year, he broke his own record with a 62.88m throw at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, earning another silver.
Sumit’s crowning achievement came at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, where he claimed gold in the F64 category with a world-record throw of 68.55m. Later that year, he improved his record to 68.62m at the Indian Open National Para Athletics Championships.
His record-breaking streak continued at the 2023 Para World Championships in Paris, where he won gold with a monumental throw of 70.83m. That same year, he captured the gold medal in the men’s T-64 javelin throw at the Asian Para Games 2023, becoming the world number one and setting a world record in the F64 category.
Most recently, he triumphed again, winning a gold medal at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.
His impressive career has earned him the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021 and the Padma Shri Award in 2022.
“I want to enjoy this moment. For the first time, such a large and strong contingent from India is going to the Paralympics and I feel proud to be the flag bearer,” the javelin champion recently shared in an interview.
As Sumit heads into the Paris 2024 Paralympics, his story of resilience and record-breaking achievements continues to inspire and captivate people worldwide.
Edited by Khushi Arora; Image courtesy: Sumit Antil (@antil_sumit7698)
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