Ace shooter Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals by claiming the 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1 bronze to add to an unprecedented gold she had won earlier in the ongoing Games in Tokyo.
Avani’s effort was lauded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet, PM Modi has been closely following India’s performances at the Tokyo Olympics and the on-going Paralympics
More glory at the Tokyo #Paralympics. Elated by the stupendous performance of @AvaniLekhara. Congratulations to her on bringing home the Bronze medal. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours. #Praise4Para
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 3, 2021
The 19-year-old Lekhara qualified second for the event with a score of 1176, including 51 inner 10s. In the fiercely contested finals, Lekhara totalled 445.9 to finish ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who let slip her grip on the medal spot with a poor third shot of 9.9 in the elimination.
Lekhara had scripted history last week as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event at the Tokyo Games.
Prior to her, Joginder Singh Sodhi was the lone Indian to win multiple medals in the same edition of the Games when he fetched one silver and two bronze medals in the 1984 Paralympics. His silver came in shot put, while the two bronze medals were won in discus and javelin throw.
