Sheetal Devi

Lore & Background

Sheetal Devi was born with phocomelia, a condition that left her without arms. In 2020, she came to the attention of an Indian Army Rashtriya Rifles unit, which facilitated her participation in Operation Sadbhavana initiatives, supporting her education and arranging medical treatment in Bengaluru. During this period, she received support from Meghna Girish, actor Anupam Kher, and Preeti Rai of the NGO The Being You. The Rashtriya Rifles unit later assisted in her enrolment at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, where she progressed in her sporting career.

Coaches Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Baidwan, impressed by her confidence, began her training. Although prosthetics were initially considered, doctors advised it was not possible. Devi's ability to climb trees using only her legs had developed her core strength, which became important in her training. The coaches researched and learned about Matt Stutzman, an archer who uses his legs, and began her training. Within 11 months, she competed in the women's compound bow event at the 2022 Asian Para Games, winning two gold medals (mixed doubles and women's individual) and a silver medal in the women's double compound event, moving her to the top of the para world archery rankings in the women's compound open category.

On 9 January 2024, she received the Arjuna Award 2023 from the President of India. At the 2024 Summer Paralympics, she became the youngest athlete to compete in women's para archery, surpassing the previous world record of 698 points with a score of 703 in the ranking round. Despite elimination by 1 point in the 1/8 elimination round, she won a bronze medal in the mixed team compound open category with Rakesh Kumar. On 28 September 2025, she won gold at the 2025 World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, defeating defending champion and world No. 1 Oznur Cure 146-143, becoming the first armless woman to be crowned champion.

Reader's Guide

Sheetal Devi's significance lies in her pioneering role as the first and only female para-archery champion without upper limbs. Her achievements—gold medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships, and Asian Para Games, along with a bronze at the 2024 Paris Paralympics—established her as a dominant force in compound para-archery. Her world record of 703 points in the ranking round at the Paralympics demonstrated her technical precision. The Arjuna Award in 2023 recognized her national contribution, while international honors from the Asian Paralympic Committee and World Archery underscored her global impact. Her victory at the 2025 World Para Archery Championships, defeating the defending champion and world No. 1, cemented her legacy as the first armless woman to win that title. Her career, developed from a training base at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex with support from the Indian Army and coaches who adapted techniques from leg-using archer Matt Stutzman, illustrates a path of innovation in adaptive sports. She remains the youngest Indian Paralympian medalist and the youngest athlete to compete in women's para archery at the Paralympics.

From the Hills of Kishtwar to the Archery Range

Sheetal Devi entered the world on 10 January 2007 in the small town of Loidhar, nestled in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. From her very first breath, her life carried a defining difference: she was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital condition that left her without arms. Yet this circumstance would not define her ceiling. In 2020, a Rashtriya Rifles unit of the Indian Army took notice of her potential and brought her into their Operation Sadbhavana programme, a community-welfare initiative that opened doors she had never imagined. Through this channel, she received educational support, medical treatment in Bengaluru, and encouragement from a circle of well-wishers including actor Anupam Kher, Meghna Girish, and Preeti Rai of the NGO The Being You. When she returned to Jammu and Kashmir, the same unit helped her secure a place at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, the training ground from which her extraordinary sporting journey would launch. She would go on to become the first and only female para-archery champion in the world without upper limbs.

Eleven Months and a World Record in the Making

Coaches Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Baidwan first encountered Sheetal Devi and were struck by her unshakable confidence. They had never before attempted to train an archer without arms, and the question of prosthetics was raised early on. Medical professionals, however, ruled out that option entirely. Instead, they discovered an unexpected asset: years of climbing trees using only her legs had built a remarkable core strength that proved essential to her form. Drawing inspiration from American archer Matt Stutzman, who shoots with his legs, the coaching duo devised a method tailored to her unique physiology. The results were staggering. Within just eleven months of structured training, Devi stepped onto the stage at the 2022 Asian Para Games. There she claimed gold in both the women's individual compound and the mixed doubles events, adding a silver in the women's double compound. That performance catapulted her to the top of the para world archery rankings in the women's compound open category, announcing to the sporting world that a new force had arrived.

Paris 2024: A Point Short, a Medal in Hand

At the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, Sheetal Devi made history on multiple fronts. As the youngest athlete ever to compete in women's para archery at a Paralympic Games, she walked into the ranking round with the world record of 698 points hanging over her head. She shattered it, posting 703 points to qualify for the 1/16 elimination round in the women's individual compound open category. The elimination rounds, however, delivered a cruel twist: in the 1/8 round she was defeated by a single point, a margin so razor-thin it felt like a cosmic joke. Yet Devi refused to let that near-miss define her Paris story. Teammates and rivals alike watched as she regrouped and, alongside Rakesh Kumar, powered through the mixed team compound open category to claim a bronze medal. That medal made her the youngest Indian Paralympian medalist in history, a distinction that no one in the Jammu and Kashmir hills of Kishtwar could have predicted when a young girl without arms first picked up a bow.

Crowning a New Era: Awards and World Dominance

The recognition that followed her early triumphs arrived with remarkable speed. On 9 January 2024, President Droupadi Murmu presented Sheetal Devi with the Arjuna Award at Rashtrapati Bhavan, honouring her as the 2023 recipient. The same year, the Asian Paralympic Committee named her Best Youth Athlete of the Year, and World Archery crowned her Best Women Para Archer of the Year. Then came the moment that sealed her legacy beyond doubt. On 28 September 2025, at the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, Devi faced Oznur Cure, the defending champion and reigning world number one. In a tense final that came down to the last arrow, Devi outscored Cure 146 to 143 to claim gold. In doing so, she became the first armless woman in history to be crowned world champion in para archery. Between the Asian Para Games, the Asian Championships, and now the World Championships, she has collected gold at every major competition on the calendar, a record of dominance that speaks to a career still very much in its ascent.

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