Avani Lekhara: India’s Paralympic Shooting Star Who Redefined Precision and Possibility

If you could bottle composure, it would look a lot like Avani Lekhara behind the rifle—calm spine, steady breath, and an eye that reads decimal points like a second language. The Jaipur-born shooter is India’s most decorated female Paralympic marksman, the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold, and—after Paris 2024—the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic golds. Those outcomes weren’t accidents. They were the result of years of deliberate practice, thoughtful coaching, and a mindset that reduces pressure to a single cue: take one shot at a time. 

The Making of a Champion

A turn no one plans for

Avani’s life changed in 2012 when a car accident left her with paraplegia. Like many young athletes, she first searched for a sport that felt like home. The spark for shooting came from an unexpected place: Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography, which her family credits for opening the door to a meticulous sport where patience and precision are everything. She tried archery, then found a deeper connection with the rifle—an arena where consistency, not brute force, wins.

Family, mentors, and an early decision

Support at home matters, but so do the right voices in training. Former India shooter Suma Shirur has often been mentioned among the expert mentors who helped Avani shape her technique and mental routines. The transition from promising junior to Paralympic podium wasn’t rushed; it was built the old-fashioned way—through reps, review, and reflection. 

Para Shooting, Simply Explained

What does “SH1” mean?

In Paralympic shooting, athletes are grouped by functional ability to keep competition fair. SH1 (Rifle) designates athletes who typically have lower-limb impairments but can support the rifle’s weight without a stand. Events are standardized with precise rules, timings, and shot sequences. Understanding this classification helps fans appreciate just how exacting Avani’s discipline is. 

Avani’s events: R2 and R8

• R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1: Athletes fire a 4.5 mm air rifle at a 10-meter target. Finals use decimal scoring (each shot up to 10.9), and eliminations tighten the margin for error.

• R8 – Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1: Kneeling, prone, and standing segments demand stamina and technical adaptability across positions, with strict equipment and time rules.
  These definitions come from the official WSPS (World Shooting Para Sport) rulebook—the gold standard for how events run. 

Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021): Where the world learned her name

At Tokyo 2020, Avani delivered a near-textbook final in the R2 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1, scoring 249.6—a new Paralympic record that equalled the world record—to clinch gold on her Games debut. Four days later, she added bronze in R8 50m Rifle 3 Positions, becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold and the country’s first medallist in Paralympic shooting. Those two medals turned her into a national symbol of composure under fire. 

Why that 249.6 matters: In finals, each decimal is a universe; a “10.7” versus a “10.3” can swing rankings instantly. Shooting 249.6 isn’t just “good”—it’s elite, sustained accuracy under bright lights and live eliminations.

The mental game at Tokyo

Avani’s mantra—“one shot at a time”—became a shorthand for poise. Finals in shooting are designed to get inside your head: staggered eliminations, silence punctuated by beeps, and scoreboards that publish your pressure in real time. Her ability to return attention to breath and trigger break is what made the last shot look like the first.

Paris 2024: The defense that became history

Athletes talk about how defending a title is harder than winning it. In Paris 2024, Avani didn’t just defend—she raised the bar. She won gold again in R2, posting 249.7, a Paralympic record that underlined her evolution since Tokyo. With compatriot Mona Agarwal taking bronze, India opened its medal tally on a day that announced the team’s intent. The defense also made Avani the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals. 

The scoreline tells a story: The margin over second place (Korea’s Lee Yunri) was built shot by shot; in a decimal final, a 10.5 instead of a 10.2 can become daylight. That steady climb—ending at 249.7—echoed the Tokyo arc, only cleaner and tighter. 

What changes when you’re the favorite?

Everything and nothing. You arrive with cameras and expectations, but the target is still 0.5 mm wide in the 10-ring. The trick is keeping your routine sacred—same gear checks, same warm-up dry-fire sequence, same mental imagery. The difference in Paris lay in experience; Avani had lived through the Tokyo storm and now knew how to steer inside it.

Technique, Equipment, and the “Invisible” Details

The stillness you don’t see

Watching on TV, shooting looks motionless. In reality, elite athletes are constantly managing micro-movement—sway, pulse, breath. In SH1 rifle events, athletes typically shoot from a wheelchair or chair for stability. The jacket and trousers stiffen posture; the glove dampens pulse; the visor cuts glare. The rifle’s balance and trigger weight are tuned like a violin until the hold “settles.”

Avani’s competitive edge is a blend of:

• Postural discipline: a repeatable stance that makes the rifle’s sight picture feel the same, every time.

• Trigger control: pressure increases smoothly; the break surprises no one—least of all the shooter.

• Breathing cadence: inhale, settle, exhale… break. The cycle is scheduled to the second.

These are universal truths in rifle shooting; in Avani’s case, mentors like Suma Shirur helped translate them into repeatable habits. 

R8: Why three positions are a different beast

Switching between kneeling, prone, and standing stresses different muscle groups and mental rhythms. In SH1, the setup meets strict rules—how elbows can rest, how equipment supports stability. The challenge is pacing: shoot fast enough to bank time for the tricky strings, but not so fast that you burn accuracy. 

Honors that mark a movement

Individual medals tell part of the story. National honors tell the rest.

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2021) – India’s highest sporting honor.

• Padma Shri (2022) – One of India’s highest civilian awards.

Both arrived early in her career, underlining how her achievements moved a country as much as a medal table. 

Avani was also recognized internationally after Tokyo; among other honours she was named Best Female Debut at the Paralympic Awards, reflecting how her breakout year reshaped expectations for Indian para sport.

What Avani’s rise means for India

Representation, access, and the long view

For a young athlete in a small town, seeing someone who looks like you on a global podium changes what feels possible. Avani’s success has already nudged more interest in rifle shooting at local ranges and academies. But visibility needs infrastructure—accessible ranges, trained coaches, and competition pathways that welcome para athletes from the first trial to the national camp. The good news: India’s para-shooting ecosystem has grown steadily since Tokyo, with bigger contingents, stronger domestic competition, and—importantly—role models who understand the path.

The “process first” lesson

Ask shooters to sum up their sport, and many will tell you: the target is a lie. Chasing the 10.9 makes your world shaky; building the process (stance, breath, trigger) makes it quiet. Avani’s journey broadcasts that lesson in high definition. When pressure spikes, process survives.

How to Get Started in Para Shooting (India)

Here’s a simple pathway if Avani has you curious:

1. Visit a certified range
   Look for an accredited shooting range or rifle club in your city. Start with basic safety, range etiquette, and air-rifle handling. Ask specifically about para-friendly access—ramps, shooting tables, and wheelchair space.

2. Understand your classification
   If you plan to compete, read up on WSPS classifications (SH1 for rifle shooters who don’t need a stand; SH2 for those who do). A national classifier will guide you through documentation and assessment. Bring medical records and mobility devices you use in daily life. 

3. Get the right starter kit
   You don’t need a top-end rifle on day one. Start with a club gun to learn sight picture, hold, and trigger control. Add essentials gradually: jacket, glove, and—if needed—adaptations to stabilize your position. A good coach will fit gear to you, not the other way around.

4. Build a routine
   Create a short, daily practice that’s easy to repeat—dry-firing, breath drills, and 20–30 quality shots. Log every session: sights, hold, group size, and one improvement.

5. Enter local matches
   Competition teaches pace and nerves better than any practice. Don’t wait to be “ready.” Use early matches to learn timing, gear checks, and how your body feels under a clock.

6. Find mentors
   Seek coaches who understand para adaptations and have experience with R2 and R8 event demands. Peer groups help too—athletes share workarounds for travel, gear tweaks, and recovery.

The Avani Effect: A playbook for pressure

Here are practical habits inspired by Avani’s rise:

• One cue, one goal: Before each shot, pick a single focus word (e.g., “smooth”) and let everything else fade.

• Segment your final: Treat each two-shot series as a mini-match. Reset posture and breath between series.

• Debrief like a scientist: After practice or a match, write two things that worked and one experiment for next time.

• Train your baseline: Good days don’t win titles; bad-day baselines do. Build routines so even your “average” is final-worthy.

• Protect recovery: Mobility work, core stability, and sleep are performance tools. Guard them like equipment.

A medal table that keeps growing

By any measure, Avani’s medal haul is already historic.

• Tokyo 2020 (2021): Gold in R2 (10m Air Rifle Standing SH1, 249.6—Paralympic record, equals world record); Bronze in R8 (50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1). 

• Paris 2024: Gold in R2 with 249.7 (Paralympic record); India’s Mona Agarwal clinched bronze for a double-podium. 

Those numbers live beyond a scoreboard. They’ve helped reframe what Indian fans expect when a tricolour patch appears on a shooting lane in a Paralympic final.

Why Avani matters—far beyond shooting

Sport has a way of collapsing distances. A teenager in a rehab ward watches a 22-year-old hold her nerve for 60 minutes and realizes that excellence can be adapted, not abandoned. That’s Avani Lekhara’s legacy taking shape in real time—proof that perfection isn’t a miracle, it’s a method.

Conclusion: Precision, patience, possibility

In a sport where the difference between joy and heartbreak is 0.1, Avani Lekhara has trained herself to make the decimal points fall her way. Her story begins with a setback but never dwells there; it moves through family support, smart coaching, obsessive practice, and the kind of quiet confidence that’s earned, not performed. From Tokyo’s breakthrough to Paris’s emphatic defense, she’s shown India—and the world—how champions are made: patiently, purposefully, one shot at a time. And for every young athlete who now believes the podium is within reach, that might be her most valuable medal of all.