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.
Avani's company helped me: Mona
On the day, Avani had a bronze-winning Mona Agarwal for company on the podium in a historic double for the country.
Mona said, "It was very difficult but I succeeded. So, thank you. Being in the company of Avani definitely helped. She is a champion and she inspires me."
The 37-year-old Mona, who dabbled in several sports including shot-put, powerlifting and wheelchair volleyball before settling on shooting, notched up 228.7 for the third-place finish.
This is the first time in India's Paralympic history that two shooters have pulled off medals in a single event.
Avani, who hails from Jaipur, endured a tough buildup to the Paralympics.
She grappled with a host of health issues, including a gallbladder surgery, which forced her to take a recovery break of one and half months.
But the committed shooter, who is an assistant conservator of forest with the Rajasthan government, did not let health concerns distract her from her aim of Paralympic glory.
The SH1 category is for athletes who have movement affected in their arms, lower trunk, legs or have no limbs.