The 19-year-old Indian ace shooter Avani Lekhara again scripted history and became the first Indian woman to win two medals at a single edition of the Paralympics. Avani clinched her second medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics by winning the bronze in women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (SH1) event on Friday.
The 19-year-old, who had become the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics by finishing top of the podium in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH1) event.
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.
The Jaipur-based shooter, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, had fired a world record-equalling total of 249.6, which was also a new Paralympic record.
Prior to her, Joginder Singh Sodhi was the only 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.