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Avani Lekhara won India's first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics 2021. She clinched gold in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 and will look to add a few more medals to her tally over the next few days.
The Indian is competing in three more events on September 1, 3 & 5. With that said, here are five things you didn't know about India's 19-year-old para-shooter.
#1 First Indian woman to win a Paralympics Gold
Avani Lekhara became the first Indian female athlete to win a gold medal at the Paralympics. No other female athlete has clinched a gold medal for the country in the past.
The 19-year-old scored 249.6 points in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Final event and finished in 1st place to bag gold for India. It was India's first gold medal at the 2021 Paralympics.
#2 Avani Lekhara won India's first medal in Shooting at the Paralympics
Avani won the first medal for India at the Paralympics in shooting. No Indian shooter has won a medal for the country over the last few years and Avani has ended that drought.
She finished first in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event and won India their first-ever shooting medal at the Paralympics.
#3 Avani Lekhara broke the Paralympics record
Slovakia's Veronika Vadovičová's held the Paralympics record with a score of 207.8, which came up during the Rio Olympics 2016. Avani broke the Paralympics record with a score of 249.6 in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event.
#4 Avani Lekhara equalled the world record
Ukrainian para-shooter Iryna Shchetnik held the world record with 249.6 points. India's Avani Lekhra equalled the world record with a score of 249.6 points in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event at the Paralympics 2021.
#5 Avani Lekhara was ranked 5th ahead of Paralympics 2021
The young Indian shooter was ranked 5th in the R2- Women's 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 before entering the ongoing edition of the Paralympics.
Ukraine's Iryna Shchetnik, Slovakia's Veronika Vadovicova, South Korea's Yoojeong Lee and Iran's Roghayeh Shojaei are the only four athletes above Avani in the World Rankings.
