The teenage armless archer who captured the world’s attention

Paris: There is no shortage of tales of human triumph at the Paralympic Games. But every four years, a handful of athletes manage to capture the whole world’s attention.

In Paris, one of those athletes was India’s 17-year-old Sheetal Devi.

Sheetal Devi during the round of eight elimination round.Credit: Getty Images

While the rest of her peers use their arms to shoot, Devi relies on her legs and feet – and she does so with astounding precision.

The teenager is ranked number one in the world for women’s para-archery with the modern compound bow (as opposed to the more traditional recurve bow).

Devi was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder leading to her arms not fully forming.

To compete, she grips her bow between her toes and lifts it with her right leg. She then pulls the string back using her shoulder, before releasing the arrow with her jaw.

World number one ranked Sheetal Devi had been a favourite to win a medal.Credit: Getty Images

Devi is from a remote farming village in northern India, where she was initially encouraged to pursue sports due to her skills at climbing trees.

The Indian Army has been a major supporter of Devi’s career; during an event in her hometown, army coaches noticed her athletic ability and encouraged her to take up para-archery in 2022.

It’s taken her only two years to reach the very top of her sport.

While Devi is the only armless female archer, there are three such male archers competing in Paris. One of them is USA’s Matt Stutzman, who scored a silver medal in London 2012.

At the Paralympics, Devi appeared on track to take home a medal. During the ranking round, she was seeded second after she and Turkey’s Oznur Cure Girdi battled it out to set the world record. By the end, Devi finished just one point behind Cure Girdi.

“I have started strongly with a good performance. If I’m able to keep this level and keep improving, I have a chance to win a medal for India,” she said afterwards.

But during the round of eight on Saturday (Paris time), the pressure of the packed crowd at the historic Esplanade des Invalides appeared too much for Devi, as she showed glimpses of losing her usual calm composure.

She and her Chilean opponent, Mariana Zuniga, were at a tie after their 12th arrows, but in the last three shots, Devi was eliminated after losing by one point, 137-138.

Paralympic debutante Ameera Lee. Credit: Getty Images

There was disappointment for Australia’s archers that same afternoon. Paralympic debutantes Ameera Lee and Melissa-Anne Tanner were both knocked out when they competed against players who were seeded much higher.

Lee lost 132-140 to France’s Julie Rigault Chupin, who had the support of a raucous, foot-stomping home crowd chanting “Allez Julie”.

“Today was insane, I felt like I was in a different stratosphere. The crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear yourself thinking,” Lee said.

“There were a few times when I was shooting where they were still chanting for France. I thought ‘just keep your head in the game’.”

Melissa-Anne Tanner at the Esplanade des Invalides.Credit: Getty Images

Lee, a single mother with multiple sclerosis who started archery with her son’s encouragement, said she was disappointed to have scored a few 8s on the target.

“It’s anyone’s game and it just wasn’t mine today,” she said.

Lee, who is Muslim and wears a headscarf, said it was “very sad and unfortunate” that France had banned its Olympic and Paralympic athletes from wearing the hijab. This did not extend to athletes from other delegations. “I’m proud of the fact I wear a scarf,” she said.

Both Lee and Tanner, as well as Devi, are now preparing to compete in the mixed team competition.

As for Devi, Lee said she was “amazing to watch” and epitomised a famous phrase.

“I’m very big on saying: ‘The only person stopping you is yourself. Where there is a will there is a way.’”

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