India’s golden girl, Avani Lekhara, became the first woman Paralympian from the country to win two different medals at a single Para Games as she bagged a bronze medal in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3P SH1 final. Lekhara had earlier won a gold medal at the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.
After 15 shots in the Standing position, Avani aggregated a total of 149.5 points that placed her 4th on the charts. In the Prone position, however, Avani recorded three series of 50.8, 50.3 and 48.4 to aggregate only 149.5. The score saw her drop down to 6th spot in the overall standings.
Avani jumped to 4th spot in the standings after the first two series in the Standing position. Battling for the third spot with Iryna Shchetnik of Ukraine, Lekhara shot 10.5 while her opponent only shot a 9.9, confirming a bronze medal for the Indian.
Playing for the silver medal, Lekhara shot 10.2 while her Chinese opponent, Zhang, shot 10.3. Lekhara, hence, settled for a bronze medal at the event.
The 19-year-old from Jaipur has put in astonishing performances in the Para Games so far. It also has to be noted that Avani still has one more event to compete in Tokyo. If things go as planned, Avani could become the first Indian woman to win three medals in the same Para-event.
After winning the gold medal in the earlier event, Avani had said that she wishes to inspire everyone through her story. Despite suffering an injury to her spinal cord during an accident in 2012, the young shooter didn’t give up on her dreams.
“I want people to look at me and feel that if Avani can do it, then why can’t we! If my medal can inspire even one person, it will be a great thing for me… No one should feel sad about their disability. Just do what you want to do and there’s no one who can tell you that you can’t do something. You have to believe in yourself. There’s no substitute for hard work so just give your 100% and you’ll surely achieve what you want. When life hits you, you hit even harder. This Tokyo Paralympics should be the turning point for everyone. We should all build a strong team together!”, she had said.
The battle for the top podium spot produced an enthralling action as China’s Cuiping Zhang and Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop went head to head. While Zhang shot a 10.3, Hiltrop shot a disappointing 8.7 to lose the gold medal to the Chinese.
Zhang concluded the event with a score of 457.9 while Hiltrop finished at 457.1.
