Avani Lekhara's Golden Journey of Resilience and Self Belief

Avani Lekhara, India’s trailblazing Olympic champion and gold medallist in shooting, made history as the first female Paralympic gold medallist, bagging two back-to-back golds. Her name resounds across India’s Olympic community and her journey is an inspiration for many budding shooters and athletes.  

Contrary to what anyone would assume, she was not interested in sports initially and was passionate about dancing. In fact, she was on her way to a dancing competition when she was involved in a car accident that drastically changed her life. “It was a 360-degree change in my life but my parents played a huge role in supporting and uplifting me after my accident which made me believe in myself again," she said. Speaking of her motivation, she mentioned that while in recovery after the accident, she read the biography of Abhinav Bindra, India’s former shooting sensation and gold medallist which inspired her to win gold for the country and she is glad that she was able to do so.

Reminiscing about her first gold win at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020, she said, “Tokyo was my first and is very dear to me. After winning, I never felt that confident before. At that time, people believed that women can’t win gold for the country and to break that barrier and be the first woman to ever win a gold medal was something huge for me”. 

She also won a gold for the second time in Paris Paralympics 2024 and she mentioned that as she had won a gold previously, the expectations of the people were higher, creating some pressure. However, she only focused on the process instead of the outcome. “After I was announced as the winner, I let it sink in and I was thinking this is something that now I have done twice and I thought It was cool.” She added. 

 Avani has completed her Law degree while winning the two gold medals for the country and is now striving to pursue her Master’s. Speaking about her inspiring journey she said, “In life we get the things we deserve. Our strengths and weaknesses both are determined by ourselves and we must have a passion for winning to win in life. Choose yourself and everything will choose you”.