Devi’s meteoric rise over the last three years has caused a sensation, with people all over the world astonished by her extraordinary technique. She is currently the only active armless female archer to compete internationally.
However, the prodigy recounts that the people in her native Lohidar, a small village in the district of Kishtwar, in Jammu and Kashmir, would ridicule her parents.
“They used to say ‘what sort of daughter you have given birth to, look at her’,” Sheetal remembered. “This would make mother cry a lot.”
But fate had other plans, and a visit to Bengaluru, India’s biggest tech hub, in 2021 would change her life completely.
“There I met others like me which I hadn’t known till then. I always thought I was alone. The people I met told me that they play sport and shared their journey. That’s when I thought and believed that I can do something too.”
And the rest was history.
Devi also has two gold and one silver medals in Hangzhou 2022, as well as silver at the World Archery Para Championships in 2023, adding to her Paralympic bronze from last year.
“I always thought that I’d only be a champion when I win a gold medal. When I won, my eyes were filled with tears.”
“When the Indian flag was unfurled, it was my most favourite moment,” she said with pride.
Now, Sheetal hopes to be able to go home soon, something she hasn’t done for the last three years – she promised herself she wouldn’t visit home until after she’d won a medal.
Today, she has 13 medals from various championships and inspires young girls in India and beyond to pursue their dreams fearlessly.
Video courtesy of BBC Sport.
