In what could have been a terrific ending for India at the Rio Paralympic Games in Brazil, the nation’s club throwers Amit Kumar and Dharambir failed to win a medal in the finals of the Men’s Club Throw F51 event held at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro as they finished at the 4th and 9th spot respectively.
The two Indians had high chances of winning a medal for the nation as the event consisted of only nine athletes who vied for a podium finish at 2016. Before the event started, the world record holder, Serbia’s Zeljko Dimitrijevic was the favourite to win the event as he created the record of throwing at a distance of 27.88 metres earlier in the year. The Serbian also held the Paralympic record in the event which he had created at London 2012 by achieving a distance of 26.88m.
Men’s Club Throw includes all the athletes getting a total of six attempts at throwing, which are divided into two sets of three attempts each. The event was started off by India’s Amit Kumar Saroha who finished his first three attempts by getting a best distance of 26.63m. Czech Republic’s Jan Vanek was the second one to try his attempts and finished with a best of only 22.89m. Mario Hernandez from Mexico threw a best of 22.37m from his first three attempts.
Czech Republic’s second thrower at the event, Martin Zvolanek, could only manage a throw of 22.03m which saw him being placed fourth in the table. Things began to look bright for India’s Saroha as was still placed on the first spot with only five more athletes still left to have a go.
However, Serbia’s Milos Mitic was having none of it and threw a personal best of 26.84m to dethrone the Indian from the top spot. Radim Beles was the third competitor from the Czech Republic and managed a best distance of 26.35m from his first three attempts, which saw him take the third spot. The next turn was of Dimitrijevic, who did not disappoint at he created yet another world record by throwing at a staggering distance of 29.91m.
It was turning out to be a close encounter as Slovakia’s Marian Kureja achieved a distance of 26.23m which saw him take the 5th position. India’s second participant at the event, Dharambir, could not come up with anything special as he could only get a best distance of 21.39m from his first three attempts which saw him occupy the last position.
In the second round of three attempts, India’s Amit Kumar, Serbia’s Milos Mitic, could not improve on their respective best distances. Whereas, Jan Vanek bettered his score by getting a distance of 23.94m after his six attempts which saw him occupy the 8th spot in the table. Mario Hernandez from Mexico also improved his distance by getting to 24.12m in his last three attempts which placed him at the 7th spot. It was also a season best finish from Czech Zvolanek as he improved his distance to 24.14 which saw him occupy the 6th spot.
Czech’s Radim Beles improved his distance as he threw a best of 26.53m but could not eclipse India’s Saroha to step foot on the podium. Whereas, leader Dimitrijevic did not stop at 29.91m as he went on to throw at a distance of 29.96m, creating another world record and securing his gold medal. It was Slovakia’s Marian Kureja who broke Saroha’s heart as he surpassed the Indian to take the bronze medal with a throw of 26.82m.
Here is the list of the podium finishers from the event:
GOLD MEDAL: Zeljko Dimitrijevic (Serbia) – 29.91m
SILVER MEDAL: Milos Mitic (Serbia) – 26.84m
BRONZE MEDAL: Marian Kureja (Slovakia) – 26.82m
