Lekhara rewrites history with medal No. 2
Teen shooter adds bronze to her gold to become first Indian woman with multiple Paralympic medals
NEW DELHI: A few days back Avani Lekhara made history as the first Indian woman to win a gold at the Paralympics. On Friday, the 19-year-old shooter from Jaipur made history again, becoming the only Indian woman to win two medals at the same edition of the Games when she took the bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3-positions. This is on a day that India’s medal tally at Tokyo went to 13, one more than the country’s combined tally at the Paralympics from 1968 (when India made its debut) to the previous edition in 2016. On Monday, Lekhara, a law student, won the women’s 10m air rifle event in the SH1 category, meant for athletes with lower body impairment, equalling the world record score in the event.
She will have a shot at a third medal in mixed 50m rifle prone event on the last day of the Paralympics on Sunday. India’s Joginder Singh Bedi had won three medals (silver in javelin and shot put and bronze in discus) at the 1984 Paralympics.
“Yes, there are a lot of firsts for me. It feels unbelievable, just amazing to come here and win two medals in my first Paralympics,” Lekhara said over the phone. “I came here for the experience. I have put in a lot of hard work and training for five to six years and I wanted to give my best with each shot.”
A day before her rifle 3-positions event, Lekhara hummed a Kishore Kumar song at the shooting range in Tokyo during practice. As a child, she had loved to sing and dance. A traffic accident in 2012 left her paralyzed from the waist down. “Angry” and in “severe mental agony” over her physical condition, Lekhara had withdrawn into a shell--till her parents, searching for ways to revive her spirit, took her to a shooting range. Lekhara fell in love with the rifle.
That love has now found its finest expression in her young career at the ranges in Tokyo.
On Friday, Lekhara’s tenacity and her ability to soak up pressure was on full display as she fought her way back in the final.
The youngest in the final of eight-shooters, Lekhara was lying at sixth position after the kneeling and prone series (15 shots each). She climbed up to medal contention in the standing position with the pressure of elimination building with each shot.
She consistently hit 10s and was in 4th position after 42 shots. Ukraine’s Iryna Shcetnik was just a point ahead of Lekhara (404.8 to Lekhara’s 404.7). The 43rd shot saw Lekhara fire 10.5 under immense pressure while Shcetnik could only manage 9.9 to be eliminated at 4th place. Lekhara had another 10.2 and grabbed bronze with a total of 445.9. The gold medal was won by China’s Zhang Cuiping with a personal best score of 457.9 and the silver went to Germany’s Natascha Hiltrop (457.1).
“I was nervous going into the final. I had never won a medal in 3P before. The first two positions did not go well but standing is my strong point. The gold medal (air rifle) came from that position,” Lekhara said. “In the 43rd shot, it was my last chance and my full focus was to hit one last good shot. I was very happy when I got a 10.5. Suma ma’am (coach Suma Shirur) kept telling me in between that I can still turn it around and do it again (medal). I started following the process.”
Lekhara beamed as she put the safety catch on her gun. It was her first international medal in rifle 3-positions, the most grueling shooting event, a 120-shot qualification that runs for two hours 45 minutes followed by a 45-shot final. As a wheelchair shooter, Lekhara had to take all the three positions in sitting posture after making adjustments. Shirur was helping her with the adjustments, like attaching a table or armrest in kneeling and prone positions.
“I started 50m in 2017 but my body was not that strong to even hold a 50m rifle for so long. When you start another event, the other event also needs changes. I had to work hard physically and mentally as well,” Lekhara said.”