India's Sumit Antil won gold in men's javelin throw (F64 category) on Monday as the country's gold medal count increased to two at the Tokyo Paralympics. Sumit threw a world record 68.55m to clinch the gold medal. In an absolutely stunning performance, he set new world records thrice in the final. Wishes and congratulatory messages poured in for the para-athlete with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the way. "Our athletes continue to shine at the #Paralympics! The nation is proud of Sumit Antil's record-breaking performance in the Paralympics. Congratulations Sumit for winning the prestigious Gold medal. Wishing you all the best for the future," tweeted PM Modi.
Sports Authority of India was among the first to congratulate Sumit. "Sumit Antil came with the intention to win & he showed the world what he's capable of by breaking the World Record to win it," tweeted SAI.
"Speechless", wrote Tokyo 2020 for India's official handle on Twitter.
"World record over world record", exclaimed Paralympian Deepa Malik, as she posted videos from Sumit's event.
Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra also posted his message for Sumit on Twitter.
Sumit's exploits stunned the viewers all over the world as not only did he better his standing world record of 62.88m in F64 category with his very first throw but he also went past his first attempt of 66.95m twice.
Sumit threw 68.08m in his second attempt before spearing the javelin for a best effort of 68.55m in his fifth attempt.