17-year-old armless archer wins bronze at Paris 2024 Paralympics, picked up archery 2 years ago

17-year-old armless archer wins bronze at Paris 2024 Paralympics

Armless archer Sheetal Devi has achieved the amazing feat of clinching the bronze medal in the Paris 2024 Paralympics mixed teams compound archery.

A rising star at 17 years old, Ms Devi is the only female armless archer competing in Paris 2024.

She partnered up with Rakesh Kumar in the mixed category of compound archery, and the duo impressively scored four perfect 10s against Italy to secure the bronze medal. They obtained a total score of 156, equalling the current standing Paralympic record in the sport.

Earlier on, Ms Devi and Mr Kumar won 154-143 against Indonesia in the quarter-finals but lost in the shoot-off against the Islamic Republic of Iran after their scores tied at 152.

Chosen by archery

According to a Paris 2024 Paralympics report, Ms Devi was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that leads to undeveloped limbs. Due to the disorder, her arms were not fully formed.

However, this disability did not stop her from defying all odds to take up archery.

Using her right leg to hold the bow, her right shoulder to draw the string, and her jaw to release to arrow, Ms Devi has managed to climb her way up in the world of archery.

Extraordinary courage, commitment & a never-give-up spirit are not linked to medals…#SheetalDevi, you are a beacon of inspiration for the country—and the entire world.

Almost a year ago, as a salute to your indomitable spirit, I had requested you to accept any car from our… pic.twitter.com/LDpaEOolxA

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 2, 2024

Impressively, Ms Devi only took up archery two years ago in 2022, reports BBC.

She first laid eyes on a bow and arrow at age 15 after travelling more than 200km from her home to a sports complex at the recommendation of an acquaintance.

From the first time she tried archery, she became hooked on the sport and immediately moved to a training camp away from home.

Despite many difficulties, including needing a specialised bow that one of her coaches personally designed and created for her, her grit and determination pulled her through. One of her coaches said of her:

Sheetal did not choose archery, archery chose Sheetal.

She has since been ranked first in the world in the compound open women’s category, according to BBC.

Decorated archer

With merely two years under her belt, Ms Devi is already a highly decorated archer.

In the 2023 World Para Championships, she met another famed armless archer, Matt Stutzman, whom she takes inspiration from. In that competition, Stutzman was able to give Devi advice on her shooting, after which she won silver in an individual category.

She also participated in the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, winning two gold medals in the individual compound open and mixed team compound respectively. She also won silver in the women’s doubles compound open.

In the current 2024 Paralympics, Ms Devi had also entered the individual category. She had finished second in the ranking round after a jaw-dropping 703 points out of 720 and was eliminated in the round of 16 after a narrow loss to Chile.

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Yip Pin Xiu clinches gold in 50m backstroke event, completes 3rd Paralympics double

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Featured image adapted from @sheetal_archery on Instagram and X.