"VAN" (Sports Desk, New Delhi - 30.09.2025) :: Great Britain’s Sabrina Fortune annexed her fourth women’s Shot Put F20 gold medal with a World Record in the IndianOil New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Monday even as Rinku Hooda claimed a memorable men’s Javelin Throw F46 gold for India beating the past three champions.
There were five other Championships Records rewritten on Monday evening, none more popular than the one set at 66.37m by Rinku Hooda in winning the high-voltage men’s Javelin Throw F46 final from his more experienced team-mate Sundar Singh Gurjar. For the home crowd, it would have been more memorable had Ajeet Singh completed a medal sweep.
It was a riveting contest that saw two Indians dueling for the top spot – and the Championships Record. Rinku Hooda threw the gauntlet down opening with 63.81m for a new mark, but Sundar Singh Gurjar sent the spear soaring over 64.11m on the third try to claim the record. However, a pumped up Rinku Hooda regained it with his fifth attempt to seal the win.
The defending champion Guillermo Varona Gonzalez (Cuba) claimed bronze with 53,34m ahead of the 2023 World Champion Ajeet Singh (61.77) to deny the home sweep of the medals. But in beating the past three champions – Sundar Singh Gurjar had tasted such success in 2019 – Rinku Hooda showcased his mental strength and skill with the Javelin.
Aware that the stands would be reverberating with support for the Indian F46 trio in the Javelin Throw final happening alongside, she wasted no time in nailing the World Record with her opening throw over 16.75m. Each of subsequent five tries, ranging from 13.99m to 15.71m was good enough to get her gold on Monday.
Sabrina Fortune said she was surprised with the world record. “I just wasn't expecting that today. It's so, so hot. So many things have gone wrong in the last week. It's just one of them things that make you so happy. I can't put into words how much. I just want to jump up and down and run the whole track, but I might overheat, trying to do that,” she said.
Reflecting on her journey as a four-time world champion, she said it was down to having a good coach and good places to train. “I had a few years where I just didn't improve, and I feel it's just coming back now, and I am improving. Honestly, as long as you believe in yourself, I think it'll always carry on,” she said.
A day after winning the 5000m T54 gold, Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner returned to the track to claim the 800m T53 crown in 1:40.15, knocking nearly 15 seconds off the old record set by Australian Madison de Rozario in 2019.
Joel De Jong (Netherlands) in the men’s Long Jump T63 final where he beat the erstwhile Championships Record holder, Leon Schaefer of Germany by a 12cm margin. Angie Nicoll Mejia Morales (Colombia) in the women’s 100m T38 and China’s Zou Lijuan who improved her own women’s Javelin Throw F34 record set in 2017 were the others who held center stage.
Zou Lijuan’s gold, coming with Zao Caiyun’s silver helped China return to the top of the medal table with 4 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze ahead of Brazil’s 4 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze. Similarly the 1-2 that Rinku Hooda and Sundar Singh Gurjar earned for India saw the home team rise to the sixth place on the charts with 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.
Long before the men F46 Javelin Throw competition started Chaiwat Rattana (Thailand), who set the men’s 400m T34 world record at 47.94 seconds in the heats on Sunday, claimed gold in 48.01. He trailed Australian Rheed McCracken at the 200m mark, but he handled the second half of the one-lapper with calm and focus to win comfortably.
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