Indian athletes dominated Day 2 of the Paris Paralympics 2024 with four medals on Friday, August 30. The ace shooter Avani Lekhara successfully defended her gold to enter the history books while Preethi Pawar produced India's first-ever track medal in the Paralympics.
Mona Agarwal and Lekhara both finished on the podium in the women's 10m air rifle event to open India's medal account at the 17th Summer Paralympic Games. Lekhara registered the new Paralympic record by scoring a total points of 249.7 to win her record third medal in the Paralympics and Mona Agarwal scored 228.7 to win a bronze medal.
Avani became the first Indian to win two gold medals in two consecutive Paralympic events. She also equalled the legendary athlete Devendra Jhajharia's record for the most Paralympic medals for India.
Preethi Pawar then stunned the world by winning India's first-ever track medal in Paralympics. She clinched a bronze medal in the women's 100m T35 event with an impressive finish of 14.21s.
The star shooter Manish Kanwar brought India's fourth medal on Day 2. The 2020 Tokyo gold medalist settled for a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol event after scoring 237.4 points. He became India's only sixth athlete to win multiple medals in Paralympic history.
India's medals on Day 2 (August 30) at Paris Paralympics 2024
- Avani Lekhara (Shooting) - Gold in the women's 10m air rifle standing
- Manish Narwal (Shooting) - Silver in the men's 10m air pistol
- Mona Agarwal (Shooting) - Bronze in the women's 10m air rifle standing
- Preethi Pal (Athletics) - Bronze in the women's 100m
Meanwhile, Manish's silver boosted India's standing in the medal table significantly. India stormed into the top ten but slipped to 13th position at the end of Day 2's events in Paris. China and Great Britain lead the table with six gold medals (a total of 14 medals each) while Australia is at third with three gold medals.
