The Fabulous Four Who Rose To The Podium on Day 2 at the Paris Paralympics

After a quiet first day, India tasted extraordinary success at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Day 2. Not one, two, or even three, but four para-Olympians reached the podium on the day. Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal opened India's medal account by winning Gold and Bronze in the 10m Air Rifle SH2 event. Preethi Pal and Manish Narwal followed up with a respective Bronze medal win.

Gone are the days when the fans used to suffice with one medal a day as the para-athletes have given them and the entire nation something to take pride in. Four medals in a day and India's medals tally has eclipsed countries like Spain, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and even the global sporting giant USA. India are currently at 10th place in the Paris Paralympics, and the bearers of the surge are the fabulous four.

Let's get familiar with their performance that brought India's tricolour into sight at the medal ceremony.

Also Read | 'I'm happy that the Indian national anthem got played': Avani Lekhara

Manish Narwal (Silver Medal)

Tokyo Games gold medallist shooter Manish Narwal displayed pluck and courage in ample measure before settling for a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol (SH1) final at the Paralympic Games here on Friday.
The 22-year-old Manish, winner of 50m pistol gold in Tokyo three years ago, looked determined to do an encore in Paris, leapfrogging from No.5 to the top of the heap. But just when the gold looked well within his grasp, Manish came up with a series of poor shots in the '9s', which saw him drop to second place and finally settle for silver with a score of 234.9.

Preethi Pal (Bronze Medal)

Preethi Pal won India's first athletics medal in a Paralympics track event as she clinched a bronze in the women's T35 100m competition with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds at the Paris Games on Friday.
All the athletics medals India had won since the 1984 edition of the Paralympics have come from field events.

The 23-year-old Preethi, a farmer's daughter from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, opened India's athletics medal account on the second day of competitions.
Preethi had come to Paris after winning a bronze in the same event at the World Para Athletics Championships in May.

Mona Agarwal (Bronze Medal)

Mona Agarwal finished 3rd in the 10m Air Rifle SH1 final to claim the Bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024. This was Agarwal's first finish at the Paralympics Podium. Upon winning the medal she expressed how daunting it was for her to attain the glory, however, kept the belief intact and in the end obtained the glory. The 37-year-old dedicated her medal to her "kids."

Avani Lekhara (Gold Medal)

The incredible Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals with her victory in the women's 10m air rifle (SH1) event. 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 Japanese capital, while Mona, who took up shooting sport in 2022, notched up 228.7 for the bronze.

So, these were the heroes of Day 2. However, there is still some Indian contention left on Day 2. hence another medal could add to the tally. Track the live updates from the Paris Paralympics Day 2 by clicking at this link- Paris Olympics Day Live Blog.