Sheetal Devi: The Indian archer with no arms, ready to conquer 2024 Paralympics

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are right around the corner and all eyes are on Indian archer and Asian Games medallist, Sheetal Devi. The 17-year-old from Jammu was born with phocomelia which is a rare congenital disorder that, to condense, causes undeveloped or absent limbs. This makes Sheetal one of the only female archers in the world to compete internationally without the use of her arms.
Sheetal’s story began when she was 15, the first time she ever saw a bow and arrow. Born in the small village of Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir, her access to the sport was virtually nonexistent. That changed in 2022 when she met her two coaches, Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilasha Chaudhary. Fascinated by her will to win and her plucky spirit, they trained Sheetal to make the most of her legs and upper body on a customised device allegedly inspired by American archer Matt Stutzman.
Since Devi’s family did not have the resources to afford the same machine, Coach Kuldeep locally sourced a bow that fulfilled her requirements. The pièce de résistance of the journey, though, was to figure out how Sheetal would strengthen her body enough to actually shoot an arrow with the help of her back and legs. “We had to manage how to balance the strength in her legs, modify it and use it technically,” said Coach Abhilasha. “Devi has strong legs but we had to figure out how she would use her back to shoot.”
The trio then created and committed to a training routine which started with a rubber band, TheraBand, and slowly transitioned into an actual bow. From hitting 5-metre targets, Sheetal went on to hit 50-metre targets using a real bow within four months. Two years later, the archer went on to hit six 10s in the final of the women’s individual compound event at the Asian Para Games in 2023 and subsequently won her country the gold medal. She also became the first female armless archer to win a medal at the Para World Championships. 
About her personality, fellow compound archer Romica Sharma said, “She is a little ziddi as well as masoom and also watches a lot of serials!” Devi hasn’t been home even once since she moved to Katra for her training. The courageous pride of the country only plans to return after the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games end — “hopefully with a medal”.