On Friday, Avani Lekhara won gold and Mona Agarwal obtained bronze in Women’s 10m air rifle final (SH1) at the Paris Paralympics which marked India’s first medal in this Olympic competition.
At the Tokyo Games before this time from Avani Lekhara emerged as a reigning champion hence scoring 625.8 within qualifying rounds narrowly behind Iryna Shchetnik who shattered the Paralympic Qualifying Record with a score of 627.5.
In contrast, Mona Agarwal recorded 623.1 points competing for her very first time at Paralympics after she had been crowned two times World Cup winner. Although back then she had higher hopes for the gold medal, it cost her that chance when she made the last 10 in the final elimination round.
The latest triumph strengthens Avani's extraordinary journey ever since she was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a car accident when she was only 11years old. In 2021, she made history by becoming the first Indian female shooter to win medals in shooting at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Holding on to the second position until the final shot, Avani scored an impressive 10.5 that propelled her into victory with a final score of 249.7 which earned her a gold medal and set a new Paralympic Record. This surpasses her previous record of 249.6 established three years ago during the Tokyo Games.
Yunri who had led the competition fell in her last attempt recording just 6.8 and this opened the way for Avani’s win.
The shooting sport has reached its peak due to resilience and willpower portrayed by Avani Lekhara. After being paralyzed from waist down in a car accident that occurred in 2012, Avani was at a turning point in her life where everything was at stake. However, on encouragement from father Praveen Lekhara she developed an interest for shooting at Jagatpura Shooting Range located at Jaipur in 2015.
The autobiography of Abhinav Bindra, who is also an Olympic gold medalist, was the inspiration for Avani training hard under trainer Chandra Shekhar and afterwards former air rifle Olympian Suma Shirur became her personal coach. As a result of her efforts, she won her first international medal in 2017, which was a bronze medal during the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Bangkok.