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Indian Paralympics gold medallist Sumit Antil said on Tuesday that it felt good to defend his title.
The Tokyo Paralympics gold medal winner reigned supreme in the final and broke the Paralympic record throw twice to claim his place at the top of the podium in the F64 javelin throw in Paris. He kicked off the proceedings with a throw of 69.11m and broke his own Paralympic Record of 68.55 m that he set in Tokyo. In his second throw, he bettered his Paralympic record by sending his javelin to a record-breaking distance of 70.59m, rewriting the record book yet again. Earlier on Tuesday, the Indian contingent of the Paris Paralympics returned back to India after their record-breaking performance at the multi-sport event. Speaking to ANI, Sumit said that he worked really hard before the Paralympics and it was worth it for him. "It feels good to have defended my title and made a Paralympic record. I had worked really hard and it was all worth it," Sumit said. He added that India has several fine javelin throwers and many youngsters are emerging to the sport. "We have fine javelin throwers in India. A lot of youngsters are emerging. Hopefully, we will have a better team in coming years and we will have a podium finish," he added. When asked about Neeraj Chopra, the Paralympics gold medallist added that a lot of things changed after the 26-year-old won a gold and silver medal in the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, respectively. "A lot has changed since Neeraj. Now, people have started to recognise javelin throwers, which was not the case earlier. We keep talking to Neeraj and he is very humble and down to earth. Will try spending time with my family since I missed them for so long," he added. The Indian contingent concluded its Paralympics campaign in Paris on Sunday with a record haul of 29 medals, including seven golds, nine silvers, and 13 bronzes. The 29-medal tally is the most by India in the history of the Paralympics. Following the conclusion of the landmark campaign, India surpassed its record medal tally of 19, which was achieved at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. India ended the marquee event in the 18th position. India rewrote several records and unlocked some new "firsts" at the Paralympic Games. Para-shooter Avani Lekhara became the first ever Indian woman to secure two Paralympic gold medals as she managed to defend her women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 shooting title with a world record score of 249.7 points. India recorded a one-two finish at a para-athletics competition for the first time, with Dharambir and Parnav Soorma clinching gold and silver, respectively, in the men's club throw F51 event. This was among India's first-ever medals in this sport. Dharambir also set an Asian record of 34.92 m. In the T64 high jump event, Praveen Kumar stood at the top of the podium with an Asian record-breaking jump of 2.08 m, landing India their sixth gold. India finished the competition with seven gold medals. India also found its first-ever archery champion across the Olympics and Paralympics, with Harvinder Singh getting the gold in the individual recurve para-archery against Poland's Lukasz Ciszek. Indian javelin throw ace Sumit Antil became the first Indian male to defend their Paralympics title, making it back-to-back gold in the F64 event with a stunning Paralympic record-breaking throw of 70.59 m. He broke his own previous record set during the Tokyo 2020 not once, but thrice. (ANI)
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