Sheetal Devi - the armless archer who won an Olympic gold
The riveting story of an armless 16-yr old who does archery
A few weeks ago, as I held a newspaper in my hands drinking a cup of hot chocolate (yes, I still love hot chocolate more than any other drink), a headline caught my eye. It read that Spain had won the women’s football world cup. I had started following women’s football only a few weeks earlier. I liked Team Spain and was kicked about their winning. As I continued to sip my hot chocolate, one of my kids let out a cry from behind me. You would have thought a bear had barged into our house. That was how loud the cry was. She grabbed the newspaper from me and squinted at the picture there - a girl with no arms stood on a podium. She was smiling. You could see a gold medal on her. Beneath it read, ‘Sheetal Devi - gold medal for archery’.
Armless and archery - two words that do not go together. So I went digging into her story, and here it is.
A bit of background to get started…
Sheetal’s dad is a farmer who tills his land on a hill, in Kashmir, India. Her mum takes care of the goats and loves her children to no end. Her younger sister Shivani is both a bundle of mischief and a huge bundle of love, who adores Sheetal and takes care of her. Sheetal was born with a medical condition called Phocomelia (meaning her limbs don’t develop). Luckily for her, it was only her arms that did not develop, and her legs was normal.
Sheetal, until just a few years ago, lived a simple life - going to school and playing with her friends. Yup, I too wondered how she managed to get any homework done - she wrote with her legs (silly me, this idea never occurred to me). She loved running around in the hills, amidst the green pastures of Kashmir and hopping and jumping on the snow in the winter months. Her mum would lovingly comb her hair daily (she has seriously long and beautiful hair). Her mum would declare after each combing session that Sheetal was the sweetest and most gentle girl on earth. Joyfully, Sheetal would get up, give her mum one of the sweetest smiles and be off to climb trees. Yes! you read that right. She could climb trees with great ease. She never feared falling down, even though she had nothing to hold onto if she lost her footing. Her legs were that strong and maintained perfect balance!
And then struck the pandemic. Schools closed. Smartphones arrived and a new world opened up to her. In there, she found something fascinating - some people with her condition used something called prosthetic arm. Think of it like a metal rod that attaches to your body and operates like an arm.
While she was awaiting her turn, a doctor walked upto her and asked what she would like to do, if she got arms.
She simply said ‘I’d love to wear bangles!’
But, Sheetal never got a prosthetic arm since her arms weren’t suitable to operate with a prosthetic. A disappointed Sheetal went back home. But in no time, she cheered up and off she was climbing a few more trees.
How she was discovered as an archer
In 2021, the Indian army was conducting some events near her village. The officers there saw how Sheetal had powerful legs and abdominal muscles. Someone had the bright idea that she could make a great sportsperson with such strong muscles. You would think they would train her to become a super-fast runner. But without arms to support her and maintain balance, fast running becomes tricky.
That’s when some of the army officers thought archery might make for a great fit (what were they thinking ? did they not see she was armless?)….as these thoughts ran in my head, I discovered that the coaches in the Indian army were thinking of another archer called Matt Strutzman. He had shot with his legs!
Matt Strutzman had represented the US in the 2012 London Paralympics. He had used his legs and shoulders to operate the bow and arrow. Sheetal’s coaches from the Indian army decided to give a similar strategy a try - she did have extra powerful legs, did she not?
It’s all nice and lovely to say - Matt’s done it with his legs - let’s give it a try. But it wouldn’t automatically translate into hitting a bull’s eye. Would it? It meant Sheetal would have to do a ton of hardwork. Which is what she did. She took up archery in 2022. She began her workouts every single morning at 6am. Many of her fellow trainees would wake up much later and be done earlier. But Sheetal was made of much stronger mettle. She knew she had a couple of limbs lacking and knew that her hardwork was the only thing that could make up for it.
There you have, Sheetal Devi, the world’s first female armless archer. She won two gold medals and one silver medal for India in the Asian Para Games in 2023.
A story to remember for the rest of our lives.
Happy holidays and I’ll see you all in 2024.
Like all my stories, I’ve spoken about this in a recent podcast. Click on the button called ‘I’d like to listen’ to listen to it.
Do you want to watch a video of Sheetal’s life and practice sessions? I’ve got that covered for you.