Paris: India’s Avani Lekhara made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympics yesterday by successfully defending her women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 title, becoming the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the Games’ history.

Lekhara, the Indian para-shooter, scored 249.7 in the final, setting a new Paralympic record and breaking her own previous mark of 249.6, which she had set during her debut at Tokyo 2020. The 22-year-old secured the top spot ahead of Republic of Korea’s Lee Yunri, who claimed silver with a score of 246.8. Compatriot Mona Agarwal missed out on the gold medal round but secured bronze with 228.7, marking India’s first two medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

This event marked the first time India achieved a double podium finish in the same event at the Paralympic Games. Meanwhile, Manish Narwal clinched a silver medal in the men’s 10-meter Air Pistol with a score of 234.9.

The 22-year-old, who bagged gold in the Mixed 50-meter Pistol event in the

Tokyo Paralympics, held the first spot in final after an initial round of shots in stage 2, but eventually lost his lead to finish second. Another para-athlete Preeti Pal bagged bronze in the women’s 100-meter sprint as she achieved her personal best timing of 14.21 seconds to finish third in the final.