Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi has made headlines around the globe for her spectacular skills at the Paris Paralympics.
Competing in the women’s individual compound open event, the 17-year-old showcased her unique shooting technique: Using her right leg, shoulder and jaw to draw and release the bowstring.
In a widely-shared video on X, her flawless bullseye in the preliminary round received thunderous applause, cementing her place in the competition with a perfect score of 10.
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 said 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”.
Netizens were clearly in awe of her.
In a video shared by @DuttShekhar on X, Sheetal uses her right leg to lift the bow, her right shoulder to draw the string and the strength of her jaw to release the arrow.
One user called BalaCA001 wrote: “Even a man of good physical strength cannot shoot an arrow so elegantly. What a shot, goosebumps moment.”
English broadcaster, journalist, writer and media personality Piers Morgan was also in awe of Sheetal as he wrote, “these Paralympians are truly incredible. Wow,” while sharing the video on his X handle.
Sheetal, the only woman without arms who competed in archery at the Paris Paralympics, delivered a record-breaking performance in the qualifiers, edging the previous world record of 698 with an impressive 703 out of 720 points.
She was, however, overtaken by Turkey’s Oznur Cure who scored 704 points.
Sheetal was knocked out in the last-16 by Chile’s Mariani Zuniga 137-138. But the Jammu and Kashmir-born para archer hit four bull’s eyes in the match.
She later secured bronze in the mixed team compound final along with compatriot Rakesh Kumar, which earned 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.
Last year, Sheetal made headlines by clinching three medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China. She won two golds in the individual and mixed team compound events and earned a silver in the doubles compound competition.
She was later named 2023’s best woman para archer by World Archery.
She was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to underdeveloped limbs which resulted in her arms not fully forming, according to Olympics.com.
She has been “athletically gifted” since childhood 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 United States’ Matt Stutzman, the first armless archer on the Paralympics scene.
Known as the “Armless Archer,” Stutzman met Sheetal for the first time at last year’s world championship.
“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 Sheetal. “She wants to win really bad, and we can help her out.”
