The 19-year-old scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Gold medal at the Paralympics in the women’s 10m rifle standing SH1 on Monday.
With a score of 249.6, Lekhara becomes the fourth woman overall to win a Paralympics gold after swimmer Murlikant Petkar, Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia and high jumper Thangavely Mariyappan and also equaled the world record.
In an interview, she was quoted saying ” I can’t describe this feeling, I’m feeling like I’m on top of the world. It’s unexplainable.” She further added, “I’m so happy I could be the one to contribute it. Hopefully there’s a lot of medals more to come”. Further explaining her gaming mindset, she said that she just focuses on taking one shot at a time and beyond that, she doesn’t try to think about either the score or the medal.
She qualified for the final finishing 7th in the qualification round with a total score of 621.7. Staging with good recovery after a slow start, Avani managed to advance her way through to the finals of the showpiece event. The Indian shooter will now lock horns in the finals of the showpiece event.
Many Indians took to Twitter to praise her historic win. PM Modi called her victory a truly special moment for Indian sports.
