Paris: Avani Lekhara won gold in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 final with a record-setting performance at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Friday. This became her second medal at the quadrennial event after she created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics in 2020.
With the likes of the World Record holder, Iryna Shchetnik and fellow compatriot Mona Agarwal as competition among others, she was able to hold her own and show why she is amongst the best para-shooters in the world.
She finished stage 1 with a total of 103.7 points across two rounds. She picked up the pace in the second stage, to get back in contention along with fellow compatriot Mona Agarwal. The latter was in the third spot.
But as the competition heated up, Avani stood her own maintaining the lead with Mona at the top as the competition came down to the final three along with South Korea’s Yunri Lee.
Mona Agarwal finished at the third spot, but the drama was yet to begin. In the final round, everyone thought that Avani was going to take silver as she shot a 9.9-pointer while Yunri took the lead with 10.7.
But in the ultimate twist, Avani shot a 10.5-pointer where Yunri crumbled under the pressure shooting a poor 6.8 resulting in Avani’s second gold at the Paralympics. She also improved on her previous record at the Paralympics with a new-best score of 249.7 points which is an increase by 0.1 from the previous record.
The Indian para-shooter already created history in Tokyo. Despite the immense pressure after winning the medal in the previous edition, she held her own to showcase her calmness under pressure to deliver on the big stage. Avani as a result of her performance becomes India’s first para-athlete to win a gold medal at the Parisian games.
Many expect India to improve upon their campaign record as they have sent in their biggest contingent in their history of participating at the Paralympics and Avani has just bagged the first medal to India’s tally.
Among other major events in the day include Preeti Pal in the Women’s 100m T35 final, and Manu who will be competing in the Men’s Shotput F37 final. Among the shoo ters, there are many other final events where India stands a chance to increase their medal tally, should the para-athletes qualify for the final event.
(Source: NEWS18)
