India's double Paralympics medallist Avani Lekhara clinched the first gold medal for the nation in the ongoing Paralympics 2024. Compatriot Mona Agarwal also clinched a bronze medal.
Both shooters clinched the medal in women's 10-meter air rifle standing SH1. Avani clinched the gold medal creating a Paralympics record with a score of 249.7. Avani became the first Indian woman to clinch two gold medals in the history of the Paralympics.
Winner of the Tokyo Paralympics gold, 22-year-old Avani, shot a superb 249.7 to better her own record of 249.6. On the other hand, Mona, who took up shooting sport in 2022, notched up 228.7 for the bronze.
Avani, who is wheelchair-bound after a car mishap left her paralysed below the waist when she was 11 years old, had become the first woman shooter from the country to win medals in shooting at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
SH1 category in shooting involves athletes who have movement affected in their arms, lower trunk, and legs or have no limbs.
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In the qualification, defending champion Avani shot 625.8 to be placed second behind Iryna Shchetnik, who broke the Paralympic qualification record with a score of 627.5.
Mona, the two-time World Cup gold medallist competing in her maiden Paralympics, shot 623.1 in the qualification and entered the final in fifth place.
With PTI inputs
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