Paris Paralympics: Shooter Avani Lekhara sets her sights on another gold

If shooting had a Manu Bhaker to thank for the two defining moments of India’s campaign at the Paris Olympics, the sport again offers the cherubic Avani Lekhara at the Paralympics, with her chance to shine again in a week's time.

A 19-year-old Lekhara made history at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, when the Jaipur girl became the first female athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Paralympics, in the SH1 women’s 10m air rifle. She followed it up with a bronze in the SH1 women’s 50m three-position rifle event a few days later.

With a total of 249.6 points, Lekhara broke the Paralympics record for the 10m air rifle and equalled the world record to get that gold. The bronze three days later made her the only Indian female athlete to finish with multiple medals at a single Games.

An upbeat India is bow fielding an all-time high 84-member contingent and hopes to better its 19-medal mark from Tokyo, with a lot of hopes pinned on Lekhara again.

“I thought of taking it (Tokyo) as a platform for experience, to improve my game. I went there to gain experience and was able to win two medals. It will always be a very special Paralympic Games for me,’’ Lekhara told the media.

The pressure of defending a title is always a weight, but Lekhara is no stranger to it. Rather, there is a definite element of steely resolve in her character, used to battling the odds ever since, as an 11-year-old, she was left paraplegic and wheelchair-bound by a car accident.

It was her father who convinced her that sport could help her give meaning to her life. Lekhara took up archery first, but soon switched to rifle shooting and the latter quickly became a passion. ‘’I started shooting in 2015, it was just a hobby during summer vacation. I went to the shooting range. They were in the black circle, as you say in layman’s language. So the coach said you should try it and that’s how I started shooting,” Lekhara recalled in an interview with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Excellence in shooting is bred of inner calm and self-confidence, they say — and Lekhara has no qualms about admitting that her sport has conversely given her both. “Shooting has given me self-confidence. Before shooting, I was kind of in my shell and was a lot more introverted,” she says.