Tokyo Paralympics: India's First Gold! Avani Lekhara Wins Gold Medal In Women's 10m Shooting

Tokyo Paralympics 2021: Avani Lekhara won the gold medal in shooting and also equalled the World Record with this win! What an achievement for the 19 year old.

Image: Twitter/ @Doordarshan

Tokyo Paralympics 2021 : The 19-year old Avani Lekhara becomes the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at Paralympic Games. She won a gold in women's 10m AR Standing SH1 Final. This is India's first medal in shooting this year.
With this medal, India's medal tally has gone up to 4 medals with 2 silvers, 1 bronze and now a gold medal. With this win, Avani has equalled the Paralympic Games World Record. (Edit: India's medal tally is now at seven after medals from Yogesh Kathuniya, Sundar Gurjar and Jhajaria)

It's a Golden Day!! #GoldenGirl @AvaniLekhara wins India's First medal in @ShootingPara & it's a #GOLD!!! 🥇 Avani has equalled the World Record to achieve this feat!✨ This is unparalleled, first Indian Woman in @Olympics or @Paralympics ever to win GOLD.#Praise4Para #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/hxJoP1edCi

— Paralympic India 🇮🇳 #Cheer4India 🏅 #Praise4Para (@ParalympicIndia) August 30, 2021

Phenomenal performance @AvaniLekhara! Congratulations on winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold, made possible due to your industrious nature and passion towards shooting. This is truly a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes for your future endeavours.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 30, 2021

 

Prime Minister Modi also congratulated India's gold medalist. Avani hails from Jaipur, Rajasthan and she holds the no. 5 ranks in 10m AR Standing. Being an enthusiastic child, Avani's father encouraged her to take up para-sports. Avani tried her hand at multiple sports, but she enjoyed shooting the most. She draws her inspiration from Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra. 

This was Avani's finals score! She created the World Record with 249.6 as the final score.