Avani Lekhara made history on Thursday by winning a historic gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 at the Paralympics in Paris. This allowed her to place first and second on the podium twice in the competition. Lekhara raised the mark with a final score of 249.7, surpassing her own Paralympic record of 249.6 from the previous Paralympics in Tokyo. It was an amazing performance.
The shoot-out for the gold in the last round was an incredible spectacle, with tension building as Lekhara looked certain to lose. Yunri Lee of Korea, who appeared ready to take the lead, briefly moved ahead of her with her penultimate shot, a 9.9.
Lee’s performance would determine the match, though, as Lekhara finished with a consistent 10.5 points. Unexpectedly, Lee buckled under duress and shot a dismal 6.8, which let Lekhara win the gold by a wide margin of 1.9 and cement her reputation as one of India’s best Paralympians.
An additional cherry on top of India’s victory at the event was Mona Agarwal’s incredible bronze medal accomplishment, which added to the country’s medal total. With a final score of 228.7, Mona was unable to overcome Yunri Lee and set up an all-Indian shootout for the gold.
Mona had also been steady throughout the round, and after 20 strokes, with a score of 208.1, she had briefly held the lead. But a 10.0 on her 22nd shot in the championship round halted her run, as the Indian took home the bronze.
Lekhara writes the history of India.
Avani Lekhara achieved a first for Indian women by winning two gold medals in the Paralympic Games. She had become the nation’s first female shooter to earn medals at the Tokyo Paralympics. She won a bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions in addition to a gold medal in the 10m air rifle standing SH1.
Athletes in the SH1 group in shooting are those who are either limbless or have movement impairments in their arms, lower trunk, and legs.
