avani lekhara, avani lekhara wikipedia
Avani Lekhara 10 Personal Facts, Bio, Wiki
Indian athlete
Born: November 8, 2001 (age 21 years), Jaipur, India
Medals: Shooting at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Women’s 10 metre air rifle standing SH1
Awards: Padma Shri, Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for Paralympic Shooting
Education: University of Rajasthan
Sport: Shooting
Event(s): Air Rifle SH1
Full Name Avani Lekhara
Birthplace Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Date of Birth 8th November 2001
Height 160cm
Nickname –
Parent Praveen Lekhara (father) Shweta Lekhra (mother)
Spouse –
Kids –
Sport Para-Shooting
Avani Lekhara 10 Pics, Photos, Pictures
Avani Lekhara 10 Fast Facts, Bio, Wiki
Avani Lekhara is an Indian Paralympian and rifle shooter. She won a Gold Medal in 10m air rifle standing and a Bronze Medal in 50m rifle 3 positions at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
As of January 2023, Lekhara is ranked world no. 1 in Women’s 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 (World Shooting Para Sport Rankings) and has competed in the 2018 Asian Para Games.
She has been supported by GoSports Foundation through the Para Champions Programme. She is also the first Indian woman to win multiple medals in a single Paralympic Games.
She has been given out of turn appointment as Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) by the Government of Rajasthan.
Lekhara is the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal. Lekhara also won India’s first gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
With a score of 249.6 points in the final event, the young shooter set a Paralympic record and tied the world record. She began shooting in 2015, inspired by former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra and has since won several national and international titles.
On 3 September 2021, she became the first Indian female Paralympian to win two medals in Paralympics history after claiming bronze in women’s 50m air rifle standing event.
A car accident in 2012, at the age of 11, left her with complete paraplegia. Her father encouraged her to join sports, training in archery but moving to shooting in which she found her true passion. She currently studies law in Rajasthan, India.
She was student of Kendriya Vidyalaya 3 (Jaipur), where she received her first gold medal in regional match of shooting.
Suma Siddharth Shirur is Avani Lekhara’s personal coach.
In her leisure time, Avani Lekhara adores listening to music, watching films and television, cooking, baking, spending time with her family.
Her favourite shooter and shooting inspiration is former Olympic winner Abhinav Bindra.
Avani Lekhara’s sports training is supported through the Para Champions Programme by GoSports Foundation.
According to Avani Lekhara, the car accident in 2012 left her paralysed below her waist. In a conversation with Hindustan Times, she said,
Prior to the accident, I had always participated in co-curricular activities in school, like dancing, but after that everything changed. I was very angry at my physical condition. It was causing severe mental agony. I had no desire to talk to anyone.”
Her sports philosophy is,
Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those cards you hold well.”
The GoSports Foundation in India titled her the Most Promising Paralympic Athlete in 2019.
As per Avani Lekhara, she has a spinal cord disability, and she is not able to move below her waist. She does leg exercises daily with the help of a physiotherapist. In an interview with The Times of India, she expressed,
As someone with a spinal cord disability, I don’t have any feeling below my waist. I still need to exercise my legs every day. I used to have a physio who would come to my home daily to help me exercise and stretch my legs.
Since then it’s my parents who have to help me with those exercises. They do the best they can. My physiotherapist has to travel from across Jaipur to come to where I stay. It’s a long way for her to travel.”
She further revealed the difficulties she faced while shooting at home,
For shooting training, as I can’t do live firing at home, I am doing a lot of dry firing and wall holding which we can do without pellets and ammunition. And these will also build my core muscles.”