The second day of the Paralympic Games in Brazil saw India’s two medal hopefuls in Sandeep and Narender Ranbir failing to win a medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw F42/F43/F44 Finals which was held at the Olympic Stadium in Rio De Janeiro. The former finished the event at the 4th spot by getting a best distance of 54.30 whereas the latter managed to pull off a 6th placed finish with a distance of 53.79.
The event saw India having high hopes from both the javelin throwers as Sandeep was ranked number two and Narender Ranbir was ranked number seven in the world. The Indian duo were participating in the F44 category at the event and were up against some of the best in the world. Two world record holders were also participating in the event – Iceland’s Helgi Sveinsson had created a world record with a distance of 57.36 in the F42 category at the World Championships in Reykjavík in 2015 whereas Trinidad and Tobago’s Akeem Stewart also held the world record in F43 category after getting a distance of 54.77 at the World Championships in Doha 2015.
Narender Ranbir started the event by getting a distance of 51.31 in his first attempt in the F44 category as he reached his season best. However, it was Sandeep who held the gold medal position for quite some time by getting a distance of 54.30 which saw him create his personal best ever. But Stewart would not let the Indian sit at the top for long as the islander created a new world record by getting a distance of 57.23 in his first attempt.
Both the Indians then tried to better their respective distances where Ranbir improved his distance to 51.68 but Sandeep failed to do so. It looked like Sandeep would pull off a great silver medal victory at the Paralympic Games thereby giving the nation its first medal from the grandest event in the world. Stewart’s god show continued as the athlete threw a distance 57.32 to guarantee himself a gold medal.
Ranbir came up to take his third attempt when he got a distance of 53.79 which saw him rise to the fourth spot in the rankings while Sandeep maintained his second spot. However, Ranbir’s fourth attempt saw no improvement in his distance as he saw himself drop to the 6th spot in the table. In a shocking turn of events for Sandeep, his fourth attempt could also not see him improve his personal best as New Zealand’s Rory Mcsweeney leaped over him to the 2nd spot by getting a distance of 54.99.
Sandeep’s hopes of getting a medal were dented a blow after Canada’s Alister McQueen achieved a distance of 55.56 in his fifth attempt to climb to the second spot. It meant that the Indian had now dropped to the fourth spot and out of the first three podium positions. Ranbir could not better his distance of 53.79 in his fifth attempt while Sandeep’s fifth try also went in vain as he could not better his distance of 54.30.
Both the Indians needed to better Mcsweeney’s distance of 54.99 in their last and final attempt. However, two disappointing throws from both the throwers meant that the duo missed out on what could have been a very surprising but earned medal.
Here is the final result from the Men’s Javelin Throw F42/F43 and F44 event at the Rio Paralympic Games:
GOLD MEDAL – Akeem Stewart (Trinidad & Tobago) – 57.32
SILVER MEDAL – Alister McQueen (Canada) – 55.56
BRONZE MEDAL – Rory Mcsweeney (New Zealand) – 54.99
