Neeraj Chopra’s ‘don’t try anything new’ message worked wonders for Paralympics star Sumit Antil

Paris: A message from Neeraj Chopra not to try anything new during competition worked wonders for Sumit Antil who heeded to the superstar javelin thrower’s advice to win back-to-back gold in the Paralympics here.

Antil on Monday became the first Indian man and second from the country to defend the Paralympics title as he won the F64 category gold with a Games record of 70.59m. The 26-year-old world record holder from Sonipat in Haryana, who lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015, bettered his own earlier Paralympic best of 68.55m set in Tokyo while winning the gold three years ago. His world record stands at 73.29m.

Antil said he and Chopra interact with each other at least once in a month, discussing about their sport and how to get better in it.

“I did not speak personally with Neeraj bhai before the Paris Games. I got a message from Neeraj bhai through somebody (athlete manager of Antil). He said it’s very good atmosphere (in Paris) and it will be a good experience but don’t try anything new.

“I just took it and it was a really good experience for me in Paris Paralympics,” Antil said during a virtual media interaction on Tuesday.

“Me and Neeraj bhai remain in touch with each other, I keep on interacting with him once in a fortnight or a month. Whenever we speak to each other, it’s about our sport, like we should keep doing our best and bring laurels to the country.”

Asked why Chopra gave that kind of advice, Antil said, “Athletes can feel nervousness at such a big stage and it’s difficult to remain focussed on the techniques. He (Neeraj) must be having something in mind and he does not want me to suffer those things. “It so happens at times that the technique you worked on ground (during training) does not come out (during competition). Javelin throw is such an event in which technique is very important.”

Antil had competed against the Tokyo Olympics champion and Paris Games silver medallist Chopra in the able-bodied Indian Grand Prix series 3 on March 5, 2021 in Patiala.