“Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those cards you hold well.” Avani Lekhara truly lives the motto her Twitter bio proudly carries.

On Friday, when the 22-year-old won the gold medal in the women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 final at the Chateauroux Shooting Range, she rewrote the history books by becoming the first ever woman athlete (both in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines) to win two consecutive gold medals.

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For Avani, who won the gold in the same event three years back in the Tokyo Paralympics, the journey to her title defence at the Paris Games hasn’t been smooth at all.

Merely five months before the Paris Paralympics, the Rajasthan shooter was down with pain and eventually had to undergo a surgery to get rid of gallbladder stones. On Friday, after Avani fired 249.7 to not only defend her title but also better her Paralympics record of 249.6 that she had set three years ago, her father Praveen Lekhara breathed a sigh of relief.

“It wasn’t easy for her since last year. She used to frequently complain of pain around the stomach and waist because of the gallbladder stones. It also affected her training regime as she couldn’t give her 100 percent focus, and eventually we decided to get the gall bladder removed in March this year,” Praveen told The Statesman.

“At that time, we knew she had very little time left for Paris, but there was no alternative. She needed to get her focus back completely on her game. She has made us all proud again today with that historic feat,” he added.

Avani had earlier secured her spot at the Paris Paralympics by winning the gold in women’s 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 event at the Para Shooting World Cup in France in 2022, with a record score of 250.6.

While she agonisingly came close to better her world record at the Paris Games on Friday, her coach Chandra Shekar detailed the challenges that Avani faced while making her comeback post the surgery.

“She has been struggling for quite sometime, even during the New Delhi World Cup last year, she had complained of pain. Once she underwent the surgery, she was advised a couple of months rest. We knew we had to take one step at a time and not rush her back into training. It was a gradual process, and once she regained full strength in her muscles, we went for the full number of targets to start preparations for Paris,” he said.

Former Olympian and coach Suma Shirur, under whom Avani has been training for the past six years, congratulated her for the feat. Shirur also praised the efforts of bronze medal winner Mona Agarwal.

“Many congratulations to all of us! Back-to-back golds in consecutive Paralympics for India’s Golden Girl, Avani Lekhara. Respect for her incredible achievement. Two Indian para shooters, including Avani, qualified for the finals in the R2 – Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event.”

“Avani has been training at Lakshya Shooting Club since 2018, and Mona Agarwal also did a fantastic job, winning the bronze. What a team – Champion Avani and Lakshya Shooting Club,” Shirur said.

With that historic gold at Paris, Avani also went past Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, whose autobiography had once inspired her to take up shooting in 2015. This was three years after a car crash on the highway from Jaipur to Dholpur left her with a spinal cord injury, resulting in loss of mobility and sensation from the waist down.

In 2015, Praveen introduced Avani to shooting when he took her to a range during one summer vacation, and since then, as they say, the rest is history. Avani began her shooting career with a rented air rifle at the Jagatpura Shooting Range before coming under the wings of coach Shekar in 2016.

Within a year, the youngster showcased her potential by winning titles in para nationals apart from a silver medal in WSPS World Cup in AL Ain and a bronze in the World Cup in Bangkok. Having competed in 10m air rifle, the youngster would also start competing in 50m rifle 3 P SH 1 event.

At the Tokyo Paralympics, Avani further expanded her medal tally by winning bronze in the 50m rifle 3P SH1 event. She now has the opportunity to make history again in the 50m rifle 3P event and the 10m air rifle mixed team prone SH1 event.

The last time an Indian won more medals that her at a single Paralympics was Joginder Singh Bedi – three medals in the 1984 games — can Avani match that feat, only time will tell!