India sets record at World Para Athletics Championships 2025 with six golds

India hadnrsquot seen a sprinter beating the field to become a world 100m champion But the World Para Athletics Championships WPAC which concluded here on Sunday as Indiarsquos best ever in terms of total medals won changed that piece of historyShining the brightest among the six gold medals India won during the nineday event at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium was Simran Sharmarsquos womenrsquos 100m T12 gold medal Although Simran couldnrsquot defend her 200m title and won a silver in that event she and Preeti Pal were the only two Indian athletes to win multiple medals two eachThe WPAC also highlighted how Neeraj Chopra becoming Olympic champion in 2021 has lifted the javelin throw event to new heights in the country Of the six gold medals in this WPAC three came in javelin events mdash headed by para legend Sumit Antil defending his title while Sandip Sargar and Rinku Hooda became new world championsThe two highjumpers Nishad Kumar and Shailesh Kumar completed the gold hunt But the number of gold medals won in the 2024 and 2025 editions remained the same at six while the count of total medals won grew from 17 to 22Herersquos a look at Indiarsquos six gold diggersSandip SargarMenrsquos Javelin Throw F44The man from Maharashtra wore the crown of a world champion for the first time with a throw of 6282m which is also his personal best Having finished fifth in the 2024 edition of the WPAC it was his first medal at a major worldlevel competition For someone who has in the past worked as a delivery boy to sustain and support his training needs all his efforts on and off the field proved worth on the biggest day of his life as a professional athleteShailesh KumarMenrsquos High Jump T63Kumar had the Paris Paralympics champion Ezra Frech in his way but the belief of Indiarsquos Asian Para Games gold medallist proved to be the difference and the WPAC had a new champion in the event Kumarrsquos clearance of 191m proved a touch too high for Frech and the veteran Indian jumper Varun Bhati mdash both of whom had 185m as their best effortKumarrsquos simplicity and modesty shone through his postevent comment ldquoGetting Indian food during a home competition helped me a lot because when we compete or train abroad itrsquos difficult to get good Indian foodrdquo he saidRinku HoodaMenrsquos Javelin Throw F46It was one of the most competitive fields in a final during WPAC 2025 but Hooda who became Indiarsquos youngest Paralympian in Rio nine years ago was determined to change the colour of his silver at the Paris WPAC in 2023At the end of the event all throwers had either a PB personal best or SB season best written against their name But the CR championship record mentioned against 26yearold Hoodarsquos throw of 6637m beat the fierce competition for goldldquoToday my family and close relatives and friends were all in the stands to support me And I managed to change the colour of my medalrdquo said Hooda who lost his left arm in a fanblade accident as a youngster Sumit AntilMenrsquos Javelin Throw F64The para javelin legend was a runaway favourite and won gold in an expected dominant fashion throwing the spear to a distance of 7137m for a new championship record to complete a hattrick of world titlesSuch was the overwhelming presence of Indiarsquos most successful para athlete that he could have won a gold with any of his legal throws all of which were 65m or above while his competitors struggled to touch the 50m distanceAntil continues to simultaneously hold the title in Paralympics WPAC and the Asian Para GamesNishad KumarMenrsquos High Jump T47Nishadrsquos confidence soared with every leap he took to clear the bar Starting from 194m he came up with a clean jump on his first effort itself every time the height of the bar was increased until he crossed 214m to win gold with a new Asian recordNishad who lost his right hand as a child in a foddercutting machine tried to clear 218m for a new world record but faltered on all three attempts On his way to the top of the podium he left behind the T47 world record holder and US legend Roderick Townsend who is a fourtime Paralympic champion and has five world championship gold medalsSimran SharmaWomenrsquos 100m T12Coached by her husband and army man Gajendra Singh Simran clocked her personal best of 1195 secs to be crowned the womenrsquos T12 100m champion Running with Simran who is visually impaired since birth was her guide Umar Saifi The runner and the sighted guide have a tether between fingers that keeps them attached while running The 25yearold Simran had won a silver medal in the 100m event at the last Para Asian Games in Hangzhou But she upped her game on home soil improving her personal best twice mdash first in the semifinal and then in the final mdash to win goldldquoI am feeling like the Indian Army today like I have done something for my countryrdquo said a proud Simran