A modest but supremely confident Avani Lekhara on Friday acknowledged her feat of winning a second consecutive gold medal in the Paralympics by declaring it has "broken the barrier" for women athletes in India.
Avani successfully defended her women's 10m air rifle gold medal which she had clinched in the Tokyo Paralympics with a record score of 249.7 in the final, with compatriot Mona clinching the bronze.
"I never really thought... I was just thinking of doing the best that I can do that day," Avani told reporters from Paris when asked how she felt becoming the first Indian woman to win two Paralympics gold medals.
"I am happy that I was able to win the gold for my country. It broke the barriers for other women in the country, they can look up and see 'okay, women can also win gold in India', and I am grateful that I was the first one to achieve that," she said.
Avani said while she has already shifted her focus on the next events women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 and mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 she had to overcome the challenge of a surgery earlier this year.
"I had a surgery in March and I was off the range, I was not practising. mentally (it) hampered me because I was not training months away from the Paralympics," Avani said, talking about her gall bladder surgery.
"Even though it's a small surgery, a lot of core muscles weren't working the way they were before and so I had to work on that more. My team worked heavily to get me back on track for Paris," she said.
"I have four more matches to go so and I am going to give my best in all so let's see how it goes," she added.
Manish Narwal was once again on the podium on Friday in the men's 10m air pistol (SH1) final, clinching the silver medal after his gold in the Tokyo Games.
The 22-year-old, however, appeared to be overwhelmed by emotions when he recalled celebrating his gold medal win with his brother Manjeet Singh, who died in 2022 in a road accident.
"When I won in 2020, I remember that we had danced all night. I am recalling all of that now. Yes, he is gone but his memories will always be with me. I only thought of giving my best," Manish said.
Manish said he had no regrets of missing the gold as he is content on giving his 100 per cent.
"I don't have even one per cent regret. I gave my 100 per cent. I was close to the gold but there is no sorrow that I couldn't. I gave my 100 per cent and that is the biggest thing for me," he said.
