New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Paralympian Sumit Antil and Sandip Singh Sargar made it a most memorable evening for India with gold medals in the F64 and F44 sections of javelin throw competitions, respectively, in the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships on a balmy Tuesday evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.
Brazil, which won one more gold on Tuesday, consolidated its position at the top of the medals table with 7 gold, 14 silver, and 6 bronze ahead of Poland (6-1-5) and China (5-7-4). With 4 gold, 4 silver, and a bronze, India is in fourth position, thanks to the two gold medals won in the Javelin Throw competitions on Tuesday evening.
With 2020 Olympic and 2023 World Champion Neeraj Chopra in the house, Sumit Antil buckled down to the task of chasing the Championship record despite being in a league of his own. He had three throws beyond the 65m in his first four attempts and did not relent, though the gold was assured. He nailed a new meet mark of 71.37m with his fifth try.
It was Sumit Antil’s third World Championships gold, the most won by an Indian. His earlier victories had come in 2023 Paris, where he set a World Record of 70.83m, and in 2024 Kobe, where he claimed gold with a 69.50m. His determination to make his hat-trick special was evident as he locked his focus on his goal.
Away from the spotlight that was trained sharply on the home javelin throwers, 35-year-old Vanessa Low claimed her third World Championships long jump T42 gold medal for Australia after having won in 2015 for Germany. She landed a new T61 Championships Record of 5.49m to add to the gold medals she had won in the 2015, 2019, and 2024 editions.
Ricardo Gomes de Mendonca (Brazil), Magdalena Andruszkiewicz (Poland), and Orla Comerford (Ireland) completed the men’s T37, women’s T72, and women’s T13 sprint doubles, respectively. Mendonca, who won a hat-trick of 100m crowns in the World Championships, added the 200m gold to his collection in conditions that he said reminded him of home.
Poland’s Magdalena Anduszkiewicz scripted one of the two new World Records on Tuesday evening with a run of 16.82 seconds in the women’s 100m T72 final, improving on the mark of 17.07 set by Maria Strong of Australia in 2023. The other World Record was set by a Greek Javelin Thrower in the F62 classification with a mark of 35.08m.
Sargar led an Indian 1-2 in the men’s javelin throw F44, held as a separate medal event, unlike the earlier years when F42-44 were clubbed with F64. Sandip, who had won bronze in the F64 competition last year, claimed the silver on Tuesday evening to set off India’s quest to rise in the medals table on a delightful note.
In the fifth round, Sargar threw the spear to within 1cm of the leader’s best effort of 62.68m. But almost as if wanting to establish his superiority in no uncertain terms, Sargar uncorked a throw over 62.82m moments later. Pushpendra Singh, a F43 athlete, got his season’s best throw of 61.94m on his final attempt but could not break into medal position.
Edenilson Roberto (Brazil) picked up the bronze medal with a F42 World Record distance of 62.36m on his final attempt in an exhilarating competition that saw the top five athletes getting their season’s best throws.
The results (finals):
Men
100m T13: 1. Shuta Kawakami (Japan) 10.91 seconds; 2. Chad Perris (Australia) 10.96; 3. Fabricio Junior Barros (Brazil) 11.00.
100m T64: 1. Felix Streng (Germany) 10.73 seconds; 2. Johannes Floors (Germany) 10.75; 3. Sherman Ididro Guity (Costa Rica) 10.93.
100m T72: 1. Carlo Fabio Marcello Calcagni (Italy) 14.80 seconds; 2. Joao Matos Marques (Brazil) 15.76; 3. Finlay Jonathan Menezes (Great Britain) 16.29.
200m T37: 1. Ricardo Gomes de Mendonca (Brazil) 22.77 seconds; 2. Bartolomeu da Silva 23.10; 3. Andrei Vdovin(Neutral Para Athlete) 23.31.
400m T11: 1. Guillaume Junor Atangana (Refugee Para Team) 51.95 seconds; 2. Gauthier Makunda (France) 52.81; 3. Mohammed Ayade (Iraq) 52.85.
1500m T11: 1. Yeltsin Jacques (Brazil) 4:02.02 (New Championships Record. Old: 4:04.70, O Santos, Brazil, 2011); 2. Julio Cesar Agripino (Brazil) 4:05.61; 3. Fedor Rudakov (Neutral Para Athlete) 4:06.51.
Shot Put F11: 1. Amirhossein Alipour Darbeid (Iran) 14.59m (New Championships Record. Old: 14.56, D Casinos Sieera, Spain, 2002); 2. Mahdi Olad (Iran) 14.23; 3. Alvaro del Amo Cano (Spain) 13.70; 7. Sagar (India) 11.74; 10. Monu Ghanghas (India) 10.87.
Javelin Throw F44: 1. Sandip Singh Sargar (India) 62.82m; 2. Sandeep (India) 62.67; 3. Edenlison Roberto (Brazil) 62.36; 4. Pushpendra Singh (India) 61.94; 7. Mahendra Gurjar (India) 57.84.
Javelin Throw F64: 1. Sumit Antil (India) 71.37m (New Championships Record. Old: 70.83, Sumit Antil, 2023); 2. Tomas Felipe Soto Mina (Colombia) 48.38; 3. Rufat Khabibullin (Kazakhstan) 47.14. (Note: Konstantinos Tourkochortitis of Greece set a new World Record of 35.08m in the F62 class held as part of the F64 competition.)
Women
100m T36: 1. Danielle Aitchison (New Zealand) 13.43 seconds; 2. Mali Lovell (Australia) 14.56; 3. Veronica Hipolito (Brazil) 14.77.
100m T72: 1. Magdalena Anduszkiewicz (Poland) 16.82 seconds (New World Record. Old WR & CR: 17.07, MariaStrong, Australia, 2023); 2. Judith Tortosa Vila (Spain) 18.16; 3. Zofia Kalucka (Poland) 19.16.
200m T13: 1. Orla Comerford (Ireland) 24.71 seconds; 2. Rayane Soares da Silva (Brazil) 25.24; 3. Kym Crosby (USA) 25.64.
Long Jump T63: 1. Vanessa Low (Australia) 5.47m (New T61 Championships Record. Old: 4.68, Vanessa Low, 2019); 2. Elena Kratter (Switzerland) 5.45 (New T63 Championships Record. Old: 4.41, G Haenen, Belgium, 2019); 3. Noelle Lambert-Beirne (USA) 4.84.
Shot Put F34: 1. Zou Lijuan (China) 9.15m; 2. Lucyna Kornobys (Poland) 8.26; 3. Galina Lipatnikova (Neutral Para Athlete) 8.01; 6. Bhagyashri Madhavrao Jadhav (India) 7.67.
Club Throw F32: 1. Roza Kozakowska (Poland) 29.30m (New Championships Record. Old: 24.45, Marouna Ibrahmi, Tunisia, 2019); 2. Marouna Ibrahmi (Tunisia) 29.19; 3. Giovanna Boscolo Castilho Goncalv (Brazil) 27.09.
–IANS
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