‘I want to prepare for 2024 Paris Paralympics in Sonipat, not abroad’
New Delhi: World record holder para javelin thrower Sumit Antil on Sunday said that he wants to prepare for next year’s Paris Paralympic Games at his home city Sonipat and not abroad.
While most of the athletes insisted on training in European countries to acclimatise with conditions in Paris, reigning Paralympic champion Antil does not feel the need for it.
“I don’t think practice is necessary in Europe. I want to prepare for the Paris Paralympics in my city Sonipat. For me, it has been a tried and tested strategy,” Antil told PTI Bhasha in an interview.
“Paris has been lucky for me anyway, where I have been playing since 2018 and have been giving my best performance. Till now I have played there 3-4 times and I have not faced any problem of conditioning.
“There is trouble in extreme cold or extreme hot weather, but the Paralympics will be held in August and I have played in Paris at that time. The world record of 70.83m was made in the World Championship 2023 in Paris itself,” said the 25-year-old.
Antil, who won gold medal in Tokyo Paralympics in F64 category, holds the current world record, having thrown 73.29m at the recent Hangzhou Asian Para Games. He has broken the world record many times in his career.
“My preparations are going very well. Some technical shortcomings came to light in Hangzhou which I am working on. I am also making every possible effort to remain injury free,” he said. “The Para Asian Games gold and the world record are a thing of the past and now my eyes are on the next target.