Avani Lekhara
India opened its account in a great way on the second day of Paris Paralympics 2024. India has won 2 medals at once. Star para shooter Avani Lekhara has won the gold medal for India. She shot for the gold medal in the 10m air rifle SH1 final event. At the same time, Mona Agarwal won the bronze medal. By winning 2 medals in the same event, India’s para athletes have made a great start to the Paris Paralympics.
Earlier, Avni Lekhara had secured a ticket to the finals by performing brilliantly in the qualification round. Avni finished second in the qualification round with a score of 625.8 and missed the Paralympic record. Her score was only 0.2 points less than the Paralympic record. At the same time, Mona finished fifth with a score of 623.1.
Let us tell you, Avni Lekhara is a resident of Jaipur and is a star para shooter. Avni first came into the limelight when she did a great feat of winning the gold medal in the SH1 category in the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago. She has the record of winning two medals in the same Paralympics. In the Tokyo Paralympics, she won the gold medal in 10m air rifle while she won the bronze medal in 50m rifle three-position. With the medal won in Paris, she has now become the first Indian female para athlete to win a gold medal in 2 consecutive Paralympics.
Inspired by Abhinav Bindra
Avni had a terrible car accident 12 years ago in which she suffered a serious spinal injury. Due to this injury, the lower part of her body became paralyzed but she did not give up. Taking inspiration from Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography, she started practicing shooting and now has created a new history by winning gold medals in 2 consecutive Paralympics. Avni uses a wheelchair since she suffered a serious injury to the lower part of her body in a car accident. In shooting, such shooters participate in the SH1 category whose movement of arms, lower torso, legs is affected or who have a disorder in their hands or feet.
(Inputs- PTI)