Para-archer Sheetal Devi started off India’s campaign at the Paris 2024 Paralympics on the best possible note by surpassing the existing world record qualifying score of 698 in the qualification round of the women’s individual compound archery event.
Sheetal Devi shot 703 points out of possible 720, leaving behind the previous world record score of 698. Unfortunately, Sheetal will not have the world record against her name since Turkey’s Oznur Girdi Cure shot 704 points, to take the record by one more point than the Indian.
Sheetal ended second in overall ranking round and will compete in the round of 16 at Paris.
However, what’s remarkable about Sheetal is that she’s a rare archer in the Paralympics who competes in the discipline without arms. In fact, there are just three armless archers at Paris Paralympics – Matt Stutzman, Piotr Van Montagu and Sheetal, with the Indian the solitary female archer.
The American Stutzman is one of the featured stars in the Netflix documentary The Rising Phoenix and is considered to be the pioneer of this technique. The Indian youngster got a chance to meet him at pick his brain at the World Championships last year.
Screengrab from the Pilsen 2023 World Archery Para Championships where Turkey’s Oznur Girdi Cure (who shot a world record score at the Paris Paralympics) faced off against India’s Sheetal Devi. (Screengrab via World Archery YouTube)
While Turkey’s Oznur Girdi Cure uses her arms to hold the bow and draw the arrow before releasing it, India’s Sheetal Devi relies on her right leg and her shoulder to shoot the arrow. Scroll down for a visual breakdown.
How armless archer Sheetal Devi holds bow, pulls arrow and shoots
In competitions, Sheetal shoots from a seated position. Resting the bow on the ground while balancing it on her body, Sheetal picks out an arrow from the ground with her right foot. She then loads the arrow into the bow, which means the arrow gets locked into the string of the bow.
Sheetal then clutches the compound bow with her right foot and brings it close to her chest.
She wears a strap around her upper body which has a release aid right above her right shoulder. She manoeuvres the bow with her leg till the string of the bow gets hooked into the release aid.
Now, the final act. Sheetal Devi extends her right leg forward with the bow clutched between her toes. She takes aim. And then with a subtle movement of the upper body, usually involving her shoulder leaning back slightly or her jaw, she releases the arrow.
Despite the complications involved in how Sheetal Devi shoots, her arrows inevitably land on the 10 ring.
Watch: How Sheetal Devi shoots her arrows
Sheetal Devi is EXTRAORDINARY.🔥#ParaArchery #ArcheryAsia #archery @india_archery pic.twitter.com/hWCAXUGVtr
— World Archery (@worldarchery) November 22, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
What is Phocomelia, the condition Sheetal Devi suffers from?
Sheetal Devi was born with Phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that causes under-developed limbs. Hailing from the Loidhar village in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Sheetal Devi is the “first female archer without arms to compete internationally”, according to World Archery, the sport’s global governing body. She had made headlines after winning three medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou: a silver in women’s doubles compound, and two gold medals from the mixed doubles and women’s individual events.
“Initially, I could not even lift the bow properly. But, after practising for a couple of months, it became easier,” Sheetal had told The Indian Express last year.
