Tokyo, Japan, August 31, 2021: Teenager Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal in any sport when she grabbed the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle standing event.
In 45 years of Paralympic shooting, India had not won a medal of any colour. That all changed when the 19-year-old Lekhara equalled the world record scoring 249.6 to emerge as champion and create a piece of Paralympic history.
Lekhara beat defending champion Zhang Cuping of China and Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who won silver and bronze respectively
“I can’t describe this feeling. I’m like on top of the world. It’s unexplainable,” said Lekhara, who sustained spinal cord injuries after a car accident in 2012.
However, her life took a turn three years later when she took up shooting as a hobby. It was when she read a book written by Indian Olympic legend Abhinav Bindra – who posted a congratulatory tweet to Lekhara after her win – that she decided to take her hobby to the next level.
“Summer vacation in 2015, my father took me to the shooting range. I took some shots and they were pretty okay. So I just started as a hobby, and here I am,” Lekhara said.
Meanwhile, Iranian shooter Sareh Javanmardi claimed her third gold medal at the Paralympic Games.
Javanmardi, who won two gold medals in Rio 2016, snatched the gold in the women’s 10m Air Pistol at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. She also set a new world record with a score of 239.2.
“I dedicated everything to hard training, and 95 per cent of the time I dedicated to sport,” said Javanmardi. Her title at Rio 2016 was the first-ever gold medal from an Iranian female athlete at the Paralympic Games.
“This is the best feeling I’m having right now. Five years of hard work finally paid off. I’m really glad that Tokyo worked out and that I could repeat what I did in Rio and break a world record,” she added.
