Avani Lekhara Falls Short Of Podium Finish, Finishes 5th In Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 At Paris Paralympics 2024

Avani Lekhara fell short of another podium finish at the Paris Paralympics 2024 as she finished fifth in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final event.

Avani Lekhara, the ace India shooter, missed out on another medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024, as she finished fifth in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final. Avani, who won India’s first gold medal at the Paris Paralympics only a few days ago in the Women's 10m Air Rifle SH1 event, failed to bag another medal at the Paris Games. Germany's Natascha Hiltrop bagged the gold medal

Avani Lekhara started by scoring 51.1 in Series 1 and 48.9 in Series 2 of the Kneeling position in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final event. She then scored 50.9 in Series 3 of the Kneeling position and was sitting in 2nd place with a combined score of 150.9 after 15 shots. 

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However, when the competition moved to the Prone position, Avani scored 50.6 in Series 1 of and slipped to the 3rd place with a combined total of 201.5 after the Kneeling and Prone positions.

From there on, she only moved downwards as Avani scored 49.9 in Series 2 of the Prone position and slipped to the 6th place.

She then scored 50.1 in Series 3 of the Prone position, maintaining her 6th place with a combined total of 301.5 after 15 shots in Kneeling and Prone positions. 

In the final stage Avani scored 48.8 in Series 1 of the Standing position, keeping her in 6th place but when she entered the elimination round, she shot a remarkable 10.6 taking her to the fifth place. Unfortunately, that was all she could do from that point and finished 5th in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final, scoring a total of 420.6.

Avani Finished 7th In Qualification Round To Confirm Place In Finals

Earlier, Avani advanced to the final of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 event, finishing seventh in the qualification round. Unfortunately, her compatriot Mona Agarwal fell short, placing 13th and missing out on the final. Avani posted a total score of 1159 across the three stages—kneeling, prone, and standing—while Mona scored 1147. The top eight qualifiers moved on to the finals.

Notably, Avani made history by becoming the first Indian to win back-to-back Paralympic gold medals with a record-breaking performance in the women's 10m air rifle SH1 event at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Friday. The 22-year-old, who previously clinched gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, shot an impressive 249.7, surpassing her own Paralympic record of 249.6 set in Tokyo three years ago.