Avani Lekhara clinches gold at Tokyo Paralympic games
India’s Avani Lekhara on Monday won gold in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Class SH1 final at the Tokyo Paralympic Games shooting event. Avani equaled the world record by scoring 249.6 in the final and secured the first position. She surpassed China’s Cuiping Zhang (248.9 points). Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik (227.5) won the bronze medal.
Avani creates history
Avani is the first Indian female athlete to win a gold medal in the Paralympic Games. This is also the country’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. She is the third Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympic Games.
19-year-old shooter Avani scored 249.6 and grabbed the gold. This is India’s first gold medal in shooting in the history of Paralympics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Avani Lekhara.
Before Avani, Murlikant Petkar (Men’s Swimming, 1972), Devendra Jhajharia (Men’s Javelin Throw, 2004 and 2016) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s High Jump, 2016) won gold medals in Paralympic Games for India. Avani had earlier entered the finals by finishing seventh among 21 shooters in the qualification round. Avani posted a score of 621.7 after six shots in the 60 series, which was enough to make it to the top eight shooters. China’s Cuiping and Ukraine’s Iryna took the first two places in the qualification with a Paralympic record of 626.0.
