19-year-old Avani Lekhara from Jaipur, Rajasthan, scripted history and did the country proud becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the R2 Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event, at the just-concluded Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Hers was the first gold medal India won at the 2020 Paralympics, following the 2020 Summer Olympics held there from July 23 to August 8, this year. Avani edged out 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist Cuiping Zhang of China and reigning world champion Iryana Shchetnik of Ukraine who won silver and bronze respectively.

Congratulating her on winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi messaged her: “Congratulations, Avani, on winning this hard-earned and well-deserved gold medal, made possible only with your industrious nature and passion for shooting. This is truly a special moment for Indian sports!”

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Together with Neeraj, we salute Mirabai Chanu, as well, who won the first medal for India at Tokyo 2020 on the very opening day, P. V. Sindhu, the first Indian female athlete who won a medal in two consecutive Olympics (Sindhu was featured on our cover in October 2017). We also salute Lovlina Borgohain, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, and of course, our men’s hockey team. You have done India and all of us really proud! Hats off to each one of you!

These young athletes have brought home 7 medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze) which, as Gp. Capt. Achchyut Kumar points out in his cover story, accounts for a remarkable 20% of the total number of medals India has won till date. A tally of 7 medals in a single Olympics is the biggest harvest of medals India has ever had, improving upon the two silver and four bronze medals won at the 2012 London Olympics. They have really infused fresh hope in to the minds of all who now look up to 2024 Paris Olympics for a greater harvest of medals!

Though our women’s hockey team missed getting a medal, our girls did an excellent job under the captaincy of Rani Rampal, particularly in defeating team Australia considered to be far more superior to our team. They really deserve our applause, and it is heartening to see that the country has welcomed them back in that spirit. Cheerio girls! You have done your best, and The Teenager Today wishes you all the best in the 2024 Paris Olympics, hardly three years away. It is our firm hope that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the government of Orissa will continue to stand by them and that more private sponsors too will follow suit.

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Poverty is never an excuse for achieving one’s dreams!

Mirabai Chanu, who began lifting firewood as a child, is now one of India’s best-known weightlifting stars. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu from Manipur scripted history as she won the silver medal in the Women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics.

Mirabai Chanu, a native of Manipur’s capital city Imphal, was born on 8 August 1994. She won her first gold medal in a local weightlifting competition when she was 11 years old. Later, she began her international weightlifting career by competing in the World and Asian Junior Championships, where she won medals in both. She idolises Indian weightlifter Kunjarani Devi.

Determined to win

Her father Saikhom Kriti says, “She is the youngest baby out of six siblings. From the age of 12 she indicated that she would want to become an athlete. But we are a poor family. All we could do was to give her Rs 5 daily. With this, she used to go from home at Nongpok Kakching to the Khuman Lampak. As the bus service was unreliable she used to hitch a ride in trucks transporting sand, stones, etc.

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