Avani Lekhara won bronze in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 event, giving her an unprecedented second medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. She has now won two Paralympic medals, making her the first Indian woman to do so. The 19-year-old had previously won gold in the 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 competition.
Avani Lekhara- Paralympic Journey:
On Monday, August 30, Avani Lekhara won gold in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. With Lekhara’s bronze, India now has 12 medals from the Tokyo Olympics: two gold, six bronze, and four silver. India’s previous best haul of four medals, earned in 2016 and 1984, is three times higher. Athletics has won eight medals, shooting has won three, and table tennis has won one.
Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win gold in the Paralympics and the fourth Indian gold medalist overall at the Para Games when she won gold on Monday. At the age of 19, Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics.
Avani Lekhara won the bronze medal in Friday’s final by 0.4 points over Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, before shooting a 10.2 in her final shot to end with a score of 445.9.
Lekhara worked her way up to fifth place in the standing elimination series, and by the completion of the 40th shot overall, she was only 0.1 points behind third place. Her next shot, a 10.3, took her level with Shchetnik, who shot a 10.2. Following that, Lekhara hit 10.2 and 10.5 on her next two shots, while Shchetnik shot 10.4 and 9.9 to win bronze.
Tweet By Narendra Modi Regarding Avani Lekhara:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Twitter to congratulate Avani Lekhara on her second medal at the Games.
“More glory at the Tokyo #Paralympics. Elated by the stupendous performance of Avani Lekhara. Congratulations to her on bringing home the Bronze medal. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours. ”, he wrote
Ending Note:
Avani Lekhara, who is now ranked fifth in the world in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 category, is competing in her first Paralympics in Tokyo. On Wednesday, she placed 27th in the mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 qualification. The mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 on Sunday is the final event in Lekhara.
India has already won 12 medals in the Tokyo Paralympics, including Avani Lekhara’s bronze. India won their fourth bronze medal in the Games and is presently ranked 36th in the medal standings. Avani has already made history as the first Indian shooter to win a Paralympic gold medal. She won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event with a total score of 249.6, equaling the world record.
