2021 Paralympics | Avani Lekhara and Sumit Antil each claim gold to take India's tally to 7
Shooter Avani Lekhara created history by becoming the first Indian woman to clinch a gold medal in the history of the Paralympics, having achieved the feat in R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event. On the other hand, javelin thrower Sumit Antil also grabbed top honours in his category.
Indian Paralympians had an extraordinary day in Tokyo on Monday, having claimed as many as five medals within a span of a few hours to register its best-ever medal tally at the mega-event. Shooter Avani Lekhara ticked-off the day with a historic gold medal in R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event, thus becoming the first-ever Indian woman to finish at the top of podium.
It was followed by a silver medal triumph by Yogesh Kathuniya in the Men’s Discus F56 event, taking the tally to four back then. However, the counter did not stop, as the legendary Devendra Jhajharia also finishing at the second spot in the Men’s javelin F46 event, with India’s Sundar Singh finishing with a bronze in the same event.
While it was already a historic day for Indian sports, javelin thrower Sumit Antil just put the icing on the cake by claiming a gold medal in the Men’s F64 category. He shattered the world record with a throw of 68.55m en-route to the historic feat that propelled India to top-30 of the overall standings at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
“In training, I have thrown 71m, 72m, many times. I don’t know what happened in my competition. One thing is for sure: in future I will throw much better,” said Sumit Antil, after winning the gold medal.