Avani became the first Indian woman to win first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

This 19-year-old created a record at Paralympics by equalling the world record of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik.

Avani finished 7th with a score of 621.7 and become the 5th Indian athlete to won a gold medal in the Paralympics Games. 

Cuiping Zhang of China won silver medal with a score of 248.9 while Iryna Shchetnik won the bronze medal with a score of 227.5.

She was born on November 8, 2001. Avani sustained a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 2012. She started shooting after reading the autobiography of Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra. She tried hand in different sports with her father’s support but ultimately, she got inclined towards shooting.

She is the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold following swimmer Murlikant Petkar in 1972, javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia in 2004 & 2016 and high jumper Thangavelu Mariyappan in 2016.

By: Neeraj Chauhan