On an eventful day for India at the Paris Paralympics, Preethi Pal clinched historic bronze medal on Friday in the women's 100m T35 final. 

T35 is a disability sport classification used in track running events for athletes with coordination impairments, such as hypertonia, ataxia, and athetosis. This category includes individuals with cerebral palsy.

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Paralympics: Avani Lekhara wins gold, Mona Agarwal claims bronze in 10m air rifle final

Preethi’s journey so far

Preethi Pal, a para-athlete from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, competes in the women’s 100m T47 category. 

Pal, who struggled with cerebral palsy during her childhood, faced challenges in accessing proper treatment in Meerut. She now trains under coach Gajendra Singh in Delhi, who also coaches Simran Sharma.

In May 2024, Pal earned a bronze medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, and secured an Olympic quota by clocking 30.49 seconds in the women’s T35 200m event. Despite narrowly missing out on medals at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, she achieved significant success earlier in March 2024 by winning two gold medals at the 6th Indian Open Para Athletics Championships in Bangalore.

Triumph of Lekhara

Meanwhile, on Friday, the incredible Avani Lekhara won a second successive Paralympic Games gold medal in women's 10m air rifle (SH1) event here on Friday as compatriot Mona Agarwal claimed a bronze.

Winner of the Tokyo Paralympics gold three years back, Avani, 22, shot a superb 249.7 to erase her own record of 249.6 set in the Japanese capital, while Mona, who took up shooting sport in 2022, notched up 228.7 for the bronze.

Avani, who is wheel-chair bound after a car mishap left her paralysed below the waist when she was 11-years-old, had become the first woman shooter from the country to win medals in shooting at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

Bad Day for discus throwers

In a disappointing turn of events, Indian discus throwers Sakshi Kasana and Karamjyoti Dalal both missed out on medals in the women’s discus throw F55 final. The competition was intense, with both athletes giving it their all.

Sakshi Kasana’s best throw was 21.49 metres, while Karamjyoti delivered a commendable final throw of 20.22 metres. Both competitors were in the F55 division, where athletes perform while seated and have full arm functionality. (With inputs from Agencies)