Shooter Avani Lekhara becomes first Indian woman to win two Paralympic golds

CHATEAUROUX: A historic gold medal in her bag, ace Indian shooter Avani Lekhara has trained her eyes on more glory in the Paris Paralympics, saying she wants to stand on the podium in her remaining two events too.

The incredible Avani on Friday became the first Indian to claim successive Paralympic gold medals with a record-shattering top finish in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) shooting competition.

Winner of the Tokyo Paralympics gold three years back, Avani, 22, shot a superb 249.7 to erase her own Paralympic record of 249.6 set in the Japanese capital three years back.

“It was a very close final. There was very less gap between 1, 2 and 3. I was focusing on my thought process and not the result,” Avani said after her historic win here.

“I’m happy that the Indian national anthem was the first national anthem that got played in the arena this time too. I have two more matches to go so I’m focusing on winning more medals for the country,” the champion shooter added.