Avani Lekhara cannot stop smiling during a visual interaction on Saturday. Less than 24 hours ago, she had etched her name in the history books, becoming the first Indian para-athlete to win back-to-back gold medals at the Paralympic Games. A paralympic record performance of 249.7 on Friday in the 10m air rifle event meant, for the first time over the last 40 days, India's national anthem was played in Paris as Lekhara defended her Tokyo gold at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre. She won in the SH1 category, in which athletes who have movement affected in their arms, lower trunk, legs or have no limbs participate.
Ask her if it has sunk in, all she had was a wide grin. "It's nice, it feels nice, I am happy," she told this daily in a virtual interaction, admitting that she is still in the zone as she had more remaining events left. "Maybe after coming back to India I will feel more but honestly this time it was a little harder. I am happy but first ever gold is first ever gold, that feeling you cannot beat."
It was a little harder for Lekhara as she had to undergo a gallbladder surgery in March and for a month and a half she was not training. The road back was not easy. Her core muscles were not responding the way it used to. Along with her physio Sumitha Nayar, she had to work hard in the months leading up to the Games. Once she arrived in Paris, Lekhara left it all behind, focussing on the task in hand. Even then, it was not easy. "It was a nerve-wracking experience but I tried to manage my calmness and focus on more process rather than thinking about the outcome. People say that I am saying it for the sake of it but it only works that way. It will only work if you think about the process and not think about scores. There is no other way."
While Lekhara does a lot of mental training exercises, at times, when things get out of hand, she trusts her coach, Suma Shirur, to reel her back in. Even as the 22-year-old puts it in a matter of fact manner, Shirur knows its easier said than done. "What happens in the middle, and what you feel, only the athletes know it. I have been there, shot myself, I know it's hard. Avani has shown tremendous courage. You need a lot of courage to face your fears, a lot of courage to listen to your own heartbeat, see your rifle shaking and still go out there and compete. It is not easy until you are prepared for it. So I think in the last couple of weeks that was the main area of focus and Avani was mentally preparing herself for that and I was happy that yesterday (Friday) despite a huge amount of pressure she continued to be calm and stay with the process," said Shirur.
"As an athlete, when you are in the zone, you are really so disconnected about the outcome. I think in Avani's case, she is still in the zone and that is how it should be. She has another two events she still has to shoot. It's good to be in the zone and this is what shooting is all about, this is why she is here. The real celebration would be when she comes back to India. As an athlete you are at most comfortable in that zone and that is where all the shooting takes place," the coach added.
At the Paris Games, shooting has been the most rewarding sport for India — three medals at the Olympics and four, as of Saturday evening. As the coach of the team, Shirur cannot find words to express her happiness. "I have been in this sport for almost thirty years as an athlete, coach of the junior and then coach of the senior team in the Olympics. We waited a really, really long time to get the kind of results we have produced and I am happy to be a part of the change. At the shooting range, we could not listen to the national anthem because the gold eluded us and Avani finally got the national anthem playing," said Shirur.
All is not done though and Avani herself has a chance of winning another gold in Paris. But she cautiously laughs about it. "We don't know for now. I am going to give my best in other events too. Let's hope that it will work out that day," she signed off.