Avani Lekhara becomes 1st Indian woman to win Paralympic gold

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 30, 2021: India’s Avani Lekhara has won the country’s first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics. In the process, she has become the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics and the fifth Indian overall to win the top medal at the Games.

 

Lekhara shot a total score of 249.6 in the final, equalling the world record set by Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik in December 2018. The 19-year-old recovered well after a slow start.

The 19-year-old Avani, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, qualified seventh for the final a total score of 621.7. She then shot superbly to leapfrog to the top in the final.

China’s Zhang Cuiping took silver,as she did in Rio 2016, with a score of 248.9 while Ukraine’s Iryna Schetnik finished with a total of 227.5 for bronze.

This is India’s fourth confirmed medal of the Games. High jumper Nishad Kumar and table tennis player Bhavani Patel had both won silver on Sunday while discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya confirmed a medal for himself in the F56 event on Monday. Vinod Kumar had won bronze in the F52 discus throw event but his result has been put under review.

Courtesy:India Today