As a hectic year of sports gallops to the finish line, India’s top athletes pause and reflect; tell the stories of their podium highs, battered bodies and shattered dreams. In a special series, some look back with fondness, a few others with regrets. But all with the hope – and wish – of a better 2025. In this piece, SUMIT ANTIL talks about his 2024.
About 20-25 days before the all-important Para World Championships in May this year, I was recovering from a back injury and it was so terrible that I was scared of even holding a javelin.
My hands trembled at the thought of holding it. I was in pain when I held it and it hurt even more when I threw it.
You can imagine how frustrated I was. You train for the entire Paralympic cycle and suddenly, you’re afraid of holding the equipment that brought you fame and laurels.
When you have an injury, you lose the support of those muscles in your throw. That load moves to some other muscle and it disturbs your technique.
What I was more afraid of was the injury reoccurring. The simple thought of the pain that the injury caused was enough to scare me. I guess that’s why my hands trembled when I came near a javelin.
This year was an important one since I had to defend my titles at both the Para World Championships and the Paralympics, and that was on my mind. People had high expectations from me, and I didn’t want to let them down. In a way, it put a lot of pressure on me.
I had a great support system but this injury was weighing me down. It became more of a mental battle. That’s when I knew I had to do something to improve my thought process and be ready for competitions.
And so, I started talking only to a limited number of people. I met only those who motivated me. That was really important. I would even watch my old videos to remind myself that I am a Paralympic champion. It really motivated me.
When I changed my surroundings, I didn’t feel that I was injured. Suddenly, I became more confident. It definitely changed me as a person too.
Defending the title
When I went to the Paralympics for the first time in 2021, I didn’t feel the pressure as much as I did this year. I did feel anxious then but when you go to a big competition as a defending champion, there’s a lot of added pressure. Everyone makes you feel that you are the defending champion. There are articles written about you and more than anything, you don’t want to disappoint people. More than anything, you don’t want to disappoint your team too.
When I entered the ground, they announced my name and followed it with ‘defending champion’. Fortunately, instead of making me nervous, it completely freed me. I stopped thinking too much, just focused on what I had trained for, and was able to concentrate.
It was like everything around me went silent. I executed the first throw of 69.11m, breaking my Tokyo record (68.55m). The second one was even better — 70.59m. When the javelin flew out of my hand, I knew it was a special throw.
I was so happy to defend the gold medal and felt a huge relief because of the expectations on my shoulders. For a para-athlete, it’s difficult physically and mentally as it is but going through the journey from the gold at the World Para Championships to the gold at the Paralympics took a lot out of me.
Everything was forgotten once I reached home from Paris though. There were celebrations in my village and a lot of fanfare.
The actual celebrations though were with my friends. We enjoy peace and just chat about mundane things. What’s more important is that they don’t treat me differently. To have friends who treat you like a normal person and not a champion is also a blessing which I’m very grateful for.
The job may have been done for this year but there’s a lot more I want to achieve in my career. 2025 is going to be very exciting because Delhi is going to host the World Para Championships. It’s the only major competition and it’s happening in my own country.
Now, I’m not at all going to be intimidated by the ‘defending champion’ tag. I’m going to train extremely hard because I want to have a throw that will break all records and be remembered for many years to come.
– As told to Anil Dias
Looking forward to 2025:
After a milestone year, Sumit Antil has a chance to make 2025 a special one given he’ll compete twice on home soil, including at the World Championships. India’s ambition of become a sporting destination for the next decade begins with the Para-Athletics World Championships in New Delhi. In front of the home crowd, Antil will have an opportunity to do something he couldn’t at the Paris Paralympics — to better his own world record. Before the Worlds, he’ll compete in New Delhi in March during a Grand Prix tournament in New Delhi, which will act as a test event.
Key dates: Para-Athletics World Championships, September 26 to October 5, JLN Stadium, New Delh
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