India (Commonwealth) _ In an incredible feat that solidified her status as one of the world’s best parashooters on a historic day for the nation that also saw Preethi Pal win the country’s first track medal, Avani Lekhara became the first Indian to win two consecutive Paralympic gold medals.
The 22-year-old Avani won the historic gold in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) shooting category in Chateauroux. Avani was paralyzed from the waist down in an automobile accident when she was just 11 years old.
Manish Narwal of India earned two bronze medals and a silver medal in the men’s 10m air pistol (SH1) final on the second day of competition.
The first of them was won by wheelchair-bound athlete and late bloomer Mona Agarwal, 37, in the same event that Avani won handily, while the second was won by Preethi in the women’s 100-meter (T35) competition in Paris with a personal best.
In the overall rankings, India was ranked 10th, ahead of Korea and Japan.
The bespectacled Avani made a name for herself by winning a thrilling final in which every point counted, scoring 249.7 to surpass her own Paralympic record of 249.6, which she had established in the summer of 2021 in the capital of Japan.
Avani won gold ahead of fellow Korean Lee Yunri, who scored 246.8 for silver, and Mona, who finished with a total score of 228.7 for bronze. It was the first time in Paralympic Games history that India finished on the podium twice in the same event.
Avani also became the second Indian to win two gold medals at the Games, following javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia. However, Avani has accomplished the feat in back-to-back Games, in contrast to Jhajharia, who is currently leading the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). The Jaipur champion shooter had a difficult journey leading up to the Paris Games.
After having gallbladder surgery in March, she dropped a significant amount of weight, but at the national camp in the Karni Singh ranges, where she worked hard to restore her strength and psychologically prepare herself for Paris, her drive to overcome all adversities was all too clear.
“The final was quite tight. The distance between 1 and 2 and 3 was really small. “I was concentrating on my mental process rather than the outcome,” Avani remarked following her momentous victory.
“That the Indian national anthem was performed as the opening song in the arena this time around makes me glad. With two more matches to go, I’m concentrating on bringing home more medals for my nation,” the outstanding shooter continued.
Athletes in the SH1 group have limited movement in their arms, lower torso, legs, or none at all. The little girl was paralyzed below the waist in an automobile accident when she was 11 years old, leaving her wheelchair-bound.
Avani was behind her opponent Lee Yunri by a few decimal points in a nail-biting final, but the South Korean withdrew under pressure and scored a terrible 6.8, while the Indian maintained her composure to shoot an incredible 10.5 to win the gold.
Mona, Avani’s partner in the final and a competitor in the SH1 category due to a childhood polio ailment that impairs her lower legs, scored 228.7 to place third on the podium.
The 37-year-old Mona showed a lot of fortitude to get here despite encountering discrimination from society in her hometown of Sikar, Rajasthan. She experimented with a variety of sports, including shot-put, weightlifting, and wheelchair volleyball before deciding to focus on shooting.
Manish, the gold medallist in the Tokyo Games in shooting, showed a great deal of bravery and tenacity before finishing with a silver with a score of 234.9.
The 22-year-old, who took first place in the 50-meter pistol competition three years ago in Tokyo, seems focused on making a big splash in Paris by jumping from No. 5 to the top of the leaderboard. But just when the gold appeared to be well within his reach, he made a string of bad ‘9s’ strokes that caused him to fall to second place. Manish’s right hand was malformed from birth.
Away from the gun range, Preethi captured bronze in the women’s T35 100m category, setting a personal best time, and earning India’s first athletics medal at a Paralympic track event.
