Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Avani Lekhara broke 8 records to win gold medal at Tokyo Paralympics
Achieving a gargantuan feat by winning gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, female shooter Avani Lekhara tore down multiple records to create this watershed moment.
Avani Lekhara wins gold and creates history at the Tokyo Paralympics (Source: Paralympic Games)
After an incredible Sunday and a National Sports Day that saw the Indian Paralympians win 3 medals - 2 silvers and 1 bronze, Monday morning also began on the sweetest of notes as Avani Lekhara stormed in to win a gold - India's very first yellow metal at the Tokyo Paralympics and most definitely, the first female Indian Paralympian or Olympian to achieve this golden feat as she topped the table with 249.6 in the 10m Air Rifle SH1 category.
Scripting history with this gargantuan win - Avani Lekhara, at 19, has shattered multiple records, created new ones and cemented her name in the chapters of Indian sporting history with this massive win.
Here are 8 records that Avani Lekhara broke and remade to don the golden crown:
1. Avani Lekhara at 19 becomes the youngest ever medallist at the stage of the Olympics or the Paralympics
2. By winning the gold, Avani becomes the first female gold medallist at either an Olympics or a Paralympics
3. After Abhinav Bindra won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and became the first Indian to achieve the feat in an individual event, Avani, who was inspired by the heroics of the veteran matched up with her idol to become the first female shooter to win gold at either an Olympics or Paralympics
4. Avani becomes the fourth Indian Paralympian and first female Paralympian to win gold after Murlikant Petkar (1972), javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016) and high jumper Thangavelu Mariyappan (2016)
5. Overall, Avani becomes the 7th individual gold medallist from India at the stage of either the Olympics or the Paralympics
6. Avani Lekhara created a new Paralympic record en route to winning the gold with a score of 249.6 in the final round
7. Avani also levelled up with the World Record of her Shooting category by notching a spectacular 249.6 at the Tokyo Paralympics
8. Towing in India's fourth medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, Avani added the very first gold for India to this edition to set the ball rolling for the coming days for the Indian Paralympians to replicate this feat
