Haryana’s Rinku brings out ‘Siuuu’ celebration after winning first gold

Rinku Hooda copied football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “Siuuu” celebration as he led an Indian one-two alongside Sunder Singh Gurjar in the men’s the F46 category. Egged by a vocal crowd in the evening session, Hooda, who had finished second in his last two major competitions — the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and 2022 Hangzhou Para Asian Games — threw 66.37 metres to clinch his first Worlds gold.

Sunder, who has bronze medal finishes in two back-to-back Paralympics, finished second with a best attempt of 64.76m, which he registered with his fifth and penultimate attempt. Cuba’s Guillermo Gonzalez finished third with a best throw of 63.34m. The third Indian in the fray, Ajeet Singh, finished fourth.

Hooda, who is from the outskirts of Rohtak, was always leading the group after registering 63.81m with his first attempt. He bettered it to 66.37m with his fourth. After finishing his last attempt, which was a foul, Hooda turned around to the crowd, jumped and pointed to everyone that he is the real deal.

“I had been trying to win gold medals for the past two-three years. We thought of changing our colour in Paris. But God wasn’t with us. Today was my day. And yes I did copy the celebration from Ronaldo. I always wanted to use it after a big win,” Hooda said. “From the first throw today, I could sense that the rhythm was good and that gave me a lot of confidence. Everything went my way today so I am very happy,” he added.