On Monday in the humid conditions of New Delhi, egged on by an enthusiastic crowd, the 26-year-old Rinku Hooda from Haryana lit up the JLN Stadium staging the World Para Athletics Championships. With an impressive hurl of 66.37m, he won the gold medal in men’s javelin F46 category and claimed his first Worlds title by breaking the championship record, held by Guo Chunliang of China for 10 years.
Rinku edged compatriot Sundar Singh Gurjar, the world record holder in the F46 category. Sundar claimed silver with a season’s best effort of 64.76m, achieved in his fifth attempt. Cuban Guillermo Varona Gonzalez clinched bronze with an attempt of 63.34m. In the last edition of the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, Rinku was edged out by the same Cuban thrower. This marked Rinku’s third consecutive medal at the Worlds.
“I am so thankful to my supporters and my family as their presence encouraged me. It was my day, everything went my way, from conditions to everything else,” said Rinku.
Reflecting on his silver medal, Sundar said, “For the first time in India a meet of this calibre is happening and I’m very happy. I was hoping for a podium sweep but unfortunately Ajeet missed out. Now my focus will shift to Asian Games preparation after a short break.”
The field was competitive as 11 javelin throwers were in fray in the finals and out of them, eight achieved their season’s best and three recorded their personal best. India could have swept the podium but Ajeet Singh Yadav, the Paris Paralympics silver medallist, finished fourth with a best of 61.77m.
India’s tally is five medals (two gold, two silver and a bronze). They are sixth on the medal table. China lead the chart with 14 medals, followed by Brazil with 13.
Other results of Day 3
Dayawanti finished fourth in the women’s discus throw F64 with 27.94m.
Ravi Rongali finished sixth in men’s shot put F40 with a 10.10m throw.
Ayush Verma was fifth in men’s shot put F53 with a throw of 7.23m.
Anandhi Kulanthaisamy finished eighth in women’s club throw F32, throwing 13.03m.
Mahendra Gurjar recorded ‘No Mark’ in men’s long jump T63 after three failed attempts.
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