In the Paris Paralympics, India’s para shooter Avani Lekhara gave her best in the women’s 50m rifle three positions SH1 event but finished in fifth place. The 22-year-old, who hails from Rajasthan, has been using a wheelchair since a car accident at age 11, which left her paralyzed below the waist. Despite the challenges, Avani has made a name for herself in the shooting world.
During the event, Avani started strong and held the second spot after the kneeling stage, with 150.9 points. However, the prone stage proved difficult, as her shots dipped below 10 points, causing her to drop to sixth place. Avani tried to recover in the standing stage and even managed to avoid elimination by scoring 10.6, but she couldn’t climb higher than fifth place by the end.
Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop took home the gold medal with a score of 456.5, followed closely by Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova, who won silver with 456.1 points. The bronze medal went to China’s Zhang with 446.0 points.
Earlier in the day, Avani secured her spot in the finals by finishing seventh in the qualification round with a score of 1159. Unfortunately, fellow Indian shooter Mona Agarwal couldn’t make it to the final, finishing 13th with a total of 1147 points.
Although Avani missed out on a medal this time, she still made India proud with her determination and skill. She has already made history as the first Indian woman to win two gold medals at the Paralympics, and her performance in Paris adds to her remarkable journey.
