Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara speaks about adapting to para-sports after life-changing accident

Avani Lekhara is a two-time Paralympic gold medallist.

Indian para shooter Avani Lekhara recently made an appearance at the House of Glory podcast, an initiative started by the Olympic medalist Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation. The two-time Olympic gold medalist reflected on her journey of becoming a para-athlete and the importance of mental health in the process of becoming a successful shooter.

At the age of 10, Avani was paralyzed waist below after a car accident. Not letting the challenges hold her back, she took up the sport of shooting in 2015 and since then, went on to win multiple national and international-level tournaments. In 2020, Avani also created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo.

Discussing how the accident changed her life, Avani expressed gratitude for the challenging journey and said it helped her become the person she is today.

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“It has been a roller coaster journey. I was not handed everything and had to start from point zero. Before the accident, I was a different kid. I was more into dancing, singing, and all such hobbies. After the accident, it was pretty difficult to restart life in a wheelchair. Your life is completely changed. You even have to re-learn how to sit,” she said.

She further added, “When I started shooting, I faced several ups and downs. But I feel happy about whatever I achieved, the mistakes that I made, and the failures I faced as they taught me a lot. I will not want to change it for anything.”

Avani also spoke on the importance of mental strength, which is a significant aspect of her sport and plays an important role in determining the winner.

“Strengthening mental well-being is equally important for me as physical training in shooting. I do a lot of mental training exercises as I believe shooting is 70-80% mental game. All the top eight athletes in the final are in a similar situation but the one who is able to concentrate and focus more on their process with the help of their mental strength wins that day,” stated Avani.

Also Read: Top 10 Indian moments from Paris Paralympics 2024

Expressing her outlook towards failures, Avani shared how her perspective has evolved to be positive over the years and has helped in developing her career. She further explained how she has learned much from her failures.

“In every match that I kind of did not do well, I tried to think what am I going to learn from this, what’s there to learn and that kind of helped me in building my technique and building my career because like I said, lows are as much important as highs are, for me. I think highs don’t teach you that much, but the lows teach you a lot,” she signed off.

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