Sumit Antil: Ramjas College taught me to dream big

Setting a record is one thing but setting a world record while surpassing one’s own previous feat is certainly a new milestone. This is what paralympian, javelin thrower Sumit Antil feels about his new world record in F64 javelin throw with the best attempt of 70.83m, when at the recent World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

“It makes me feel elated yet funny to break my own world record. I had practised quite hard to get a Gold for this Championship. But breaking the world record in the process of attempting to reach your goal is like sone pe suhaaga,” says Antil, who was introduced to the game in 2017 during his #CampusKeDin in Ramjas College.

He feels his alma mater indeed played a major role in his pursuit of sports. “I got admission in Delhi University via the sports quota, which is why for me my college is limited to its field as during the three years of grad, I hardly saw my classrooms [where I was supposed to study]. In some of the semesters, I didn’t even know where my class would take place because my complete focus was on the game,” adds the 25-year-old.

The college helped him adopt the habit of following an early routine. “Starting at 5 o’ clock, today, my days of training pretty regular since I have developed the early bird habit since my training days in college.” Antil believes that his alma mater has silently acted like a backbone to his game over the years: “My college taught me to dream big and decide my own fate. I was never asked to be better at anything else than what I wanted to do. My coaches inspired me to only be the best of myself, and that I believe is what helps me achieve such goals and records in life... Any student who is now pursuing his college at DU, under the sports quota, should actually look for such spirit that teaches them to look forward and make it big someday,” says Antil, who is presently prepping to represent the India at the upcoming Asian Para Games 2023, which are scheduled to be held from October 22 to 28 in Hangzhou, China.

Author tweets @maishascribbles

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