Avani Lekhara: All you need to know about Paralympics gold winner: Age, Zodiac, Family, Hobby, Injury info

Tokyo, August 30: Avani Lekhara, all of 19 years old, became India's darling on Monday (August 30). She won gold in shooting for the country in the Tokyo Paralympics in the 10M Air Pistol SH1 Standing category, India's first gold in the current edition of the Paralympics.

Avani has generated a lot of interest with her gold-winning feat and here MyKhel gives a quick profile of her.

1. Profle of Avani Lekhara

Age: 19 years

DoB: November 8, 2001

Place of Birth: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Hobbies: Travelling, reading, cooking, movies, music

Height: 5"3

Weight: 57 kg

Role model: Abhinav Bindra

College: Law Student, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.

Awards and honours: In 2019 she was named Most Promising Paralympic Athlete by the GoSports Foundation in India.

2. Early life, injury of Avani Lekhara

Avani suffered a major accident in 2012 when she was just 11. She suffered a spinal cord injury, restricting her to wheel chair. But she turned to para sports with the help of her parents and tried her hands in shooting and archery. But eventually took up shooting and continued practice in Jagatpura Sports Complex in Jaipur.

3. Shooting career of Avani Lekhara

Avani is coached by former India shooter Suma Shirur. She began her journey winning a bronze in the national para championships. In the 2018, Para World Championship she ended at 9th place but later won a silver in the Para World Cup in the same year.

"As someone with a spinal cord disability, I don't have any feeling below my waist. I still need to exercise my legs every day. I used to have a physio who would come to my home daily to help me exercise and stretch my legs. Since then, it's my parents who have to help me with those exercises. They do the best they can.

"My physiotherapist has to travel from across Jaipur to come to where I stay. It's a long way for her to travel. For shooting training, as I can't do live firing at home, I am doing a lot of dry firing and wall holding which we can do without pellets and ammunition. And these will also build my core muscles," she was quoted as saying by the ToI.