In her very first appearance at the Paralympics, Mona Agarwal won a Bronze medal.
The Paralympics 2024 have given us yet another opportunity to celebrate our athletes who reached the heights of overcoming various challenges in life. Presently, India is ranked 15th in the medal tally with 3 gold, 5 silver and 15 bronze medals. In this article, we will talk about some of the female para-athletes who touched new heights for India despite hardships in life.
Let us first talk about Mona Agarwal, a para shooter from the Sikar Rajasthan. In her very first appearance at the Paralympics, she brought glory to the country by winning a bronze medal in the Women’s 10-meter Air Rifle (SH1) event. She is presently aged 36. Mona is also a mother of two children. When Mona was just 9 months old, she contracted polio, which affected both her legs. However, polio couldn’t stop her. At the age of 23, she left home and started her sporting career. With years of hard work, she finally reached the milestone of setting an example for many.
The next athlete we will talk about here is Avani Lekhara. Talking about her early life, the shooter from Rajasthan has been living her life in a wheelchair since a very young age. When she was just 11 years old, Avani met with a tragic accident which changed her life completely. The accident severely damaged her spinal cord, leading to paralysis. Despite this, she rose above her pain and created history. She became the first Indian woman athlete to win two consecutive gold medals at the Paralympics after she won a gold medal in the 10m air rifle SH1 event at the Paris Paralympics.
The next Athlete on the list is Preethi Pal who brought home India’s first medal in a track and field event at the Paris Paralympics. Preethi hails from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh and her father works as a farmer. From birth, Preeti faced many physical and psychological challenges but never gave up. Just six days after her birth, her lower body had to be plastered due to weak and abnormal legs, leading to many difficulties. She also faced financial hardships several times but never gave up her dream. Preethi won two bronze medals, one in the women’s T35 100m event and the other one in the Women’s 200m T35 event.
Another inspiring name that emerged from this year’s Paralympics is India’s archer Sheetal Devi. Hailing from the town of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal was born without both hands. She is the world’s first and only active female archer to compete without hands. She won a bronze medal in the archery mixed team compound event.
