In an emotional moment on Monday, 19-year-old Avani Lekhara became the first woman to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games for India. Lekhara made history not only with a gold medal [1] in the R-2 Women's 10m air rifle SH1 event, but also by winning India its first medal for shooting in either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. She also set a Paralympic record with a score of 249.6.
"I can't describe this feeling. I'm feeling like I'm on top of the world. It's unexplainable," Lekhara said after her amazing win, according to Paralympic.org [2]. Lekhara began shooting in 2015 [3] on a summer holiday, according to CNN, when her father took her to a shooting range. What began as a hobby has obviously turned into much more! Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised her accomplishment with a tweet saying, "Phenomenal performance."
Phenomenal performance @AvaniLekhara [4]! Congratulations on winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold, made possible due to your industrious nature and passion towards shooting. This is truly a special moment for Indian sports. Best wishes for your future endeavours. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 30, 2021 [5]
Lekhara, who's also a law student, is the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympic gold medal, and said, "I was just saying one thing, that I have to take one shot at a time," CNN reports. That's solid advice we can all follow to achieve whatever our goals are. Read on to see photos from her historic win.
