Indian archer Sheetal Devi has made a big splash in her Paralympic debut, going super viral for a bullseye in her first competition last week and then securing bronze in Monday’s mixed team compound final.
Devi is the only woman without arms competing in archery at the Paris Paralympics.
The 17-year-old went viral for firing a bullseye during the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s individual compound open competition. A clip of the moment posted over the weekend was viewed more than 60 million times before it was taken down for copyright reasons.
“Oh, what a start for Devi,” the announcer says after her shot, as the crowd erupts, in another post of the clip .
Commenters praised her as a “great talent,” “beyond impressive” and “a force to be reckoned with.”
Sheetal Devi of Team India during the women's individual compound open 1/8 elimination match.
She ended up losing the round by one point to Chile’s Mariana Zuniga and did not advance to the quarterfinals.
On Monday, she got her podium finish with teammate Rakesh Kumar in the mixed event, earning them “heartiest congratulations” from Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
“Their joint success is an inspiring example of commitment and coordinated efforts. Both of them are inspiring sportspersons from whom our youth can learn a lot,” the president posted on social media.
“Thank you, India!” Devi wrote on Instagram after the win. “Overwhelmed with gratitude for the unconditional love and support from all of you!”
Devi and Rakesh Kumar during the mixed team competition.
Devi was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs which resulted in her arms not fully forming, according to Olympics.com .
At 17, she had already made a name for herself on the world stage before heading to Paris. She won silver at the 2023 World Archery Para Championships, becoming the first female armless archer ever to medal at the tournament. She also bagged two golds and a silver at last year’s Asian Para Games.
She was named 2023’s best woman para archer of the year by World Archery.
She has been “athletically gifted” since childhood, according to Olympics.com, and loved climbing trees for fun, helping her to develop a strong upper body. Her talents were then discovered at an Indian Army youth event.
Her archery coaches tapped into techniques used by Team USA’s Matt Stutzman, the first armless archer on the Paralympics scene — who added a gold medal to his tally on Sunday 12 years after his debut in London.
Known as the “Armless Archer,” Stutzman met Devi for the first time at last year’s world championship, according to the International Paralympic Committee .
“I can retire now and be okay with everything. I’ve done really well, but the fact that we have other armless archers is way more important. It builds archery,” Stutzman said at the time.
“I want her to be successful,” he said of Devi. “She wants to win really bad. It’s good she came because we can help her out.”
Two other armless men, Belgium’s Piotr Van Montagu and Mexico’s Víctor Sardina Viveros, are also competing in Paris, and like Devi and Stutzman, use other body parts to aim and shoot.
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