Vani Lekhara (English: Avani Lekhara, born 8 November 2001, Jaipur, Rajasthan) is an Indian para female shooter. He won the gold medal in the Summer Paralympics, 2020 (Tokyo Paralympics). This is India’s first gold medal in shooting in the history of Paralympics. Avani Lakhera won the first position in Women’s R-2 10m Air Rifle Class SH1. He scored 249.6 points in the final and equaled the world record.
Born on November 8, 2001 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Avni’s life took a big turn in 2012. When Avin was 11 years old, she suffered serious spinal cord injury in a car accident. After this she was confined to a wheelchair forever. However, he never let this weakness come in his way and started concentrating on his studies.
Avni Lakhera focused on studies and her father wanted her to focus on sports also. His father told him to try both shooting and archery and then choose one. Avni had told in an interview, ‘In 2015, my father took me to both shooting and archery and I tried both. After holding the rifle for the first time, I felt more connected to shooting. However, one of the reasons for choosing shooting is Abhinav Bindra. Avni read Abhinav Bindra’s biography ‘A Shot at History’, after which she became more serious towards shooting. Avni started shooting training in 2015 from Jagatpura Sports Complex, Jaipur.
Indian shooter Avani Lakhera set a Paralympic record of 249.6 to win the gold medal. China’s Qiping Zhang won silver with 248.9 and Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik won bronze with 227.5. Avni has become the fourth Indian player to win a gold medal in the Paralympic Games. Before him, swimmer Muralikant Petkar (1972), Devendra Jhajharia in javelin throw (2004 and 2016) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (2016) in high jump have achieved this feat. Avani Lakhera is the first female Indian to win gold in Paralympics.
Avani Lakhera started her training in 2015 and a few months later, she participated in the Rajasthan State Championship and won gold. Avni had borrowed a rifle from her coach for this championship. Just a few months later, Avni won the bronze medal in the National Championship. Between 2016 and 2020, Avni won the gold medal 5 times in the National Shooting Championship. This year, Avni had won the silver medal in the Para Shooting World Cup held in UAE.
