Sumit Antil wins third straight F64 javelin world title with 71.37m

Sumit Antil extended his dominance at the World Para Athletics Championships on Tuesday, winning a third consecutive world title in the men's F64 javelin with a championship-record throw of 71.37 metres at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Antil produced the mark on his fifth attempt to better the 70.83m championship record he set in 2023 and secured gold for the host nation in front of a home crowd.

Antil, 27, is a two-time Paralympic champion and the F64 world record holder. His performance anchored a standout day for India, which collected four medals — two gold and two silver — across throwing events, a haul that pushed the host nation into the top four of the championships medal table alongside Brazil, Poland and China. By the end of the session India’s overall total stood at nine medals: four gold, four silver and one bronze.

India’s other gold came in the men's javelin F44, where Sandip Sargar won with a best throw of 62.82m and team-mate Sandeep finished second with 62.67m, delivering an Indian one-two. Two more Indians narrowly missed the podium in that event: Pushpendra Singh placed fourth with 61.31m and Mahendra Gurjar was seventh. In the women's discus F64,...