After gold in 10 m rifle event, Lekhara wins 50 m bronze; first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals

Lekhara had become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold by claiming the top honours in the 10 m air rifle standing SH1 event.

Trailblazing shooter Avani Lekhara on September 3 became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals by claiming the 50 m rifle 3 Position SH1 bronze to add to an unprecedented gold she had won earlier in the ongoing Games here.

The 19-year-old Lekhara qualified second for the event with a score of 1176, including 51 inner 10s.

In the fiercely contested finals, Lekhara totalled 445.9 to finish ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who let slip her grip on the medal spot with a poor third shot of 9.9 in the elimination.

The Jaipur-based shooter, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, had fired a world record equalling total of 249.6, which was also a new Paralympic record.

Joginder Singh Sodhi is the only other Indian to win multiple medals in the same edition of the Games. Sodhi won a silver and two bronze medals in the 1984 Paralympics. His silver came in shot put, while the two bronze medals were won in discus and javelin throw events.