India's armless archer Sheetal Devi, born without arms, finished second in the women's individual compound open archery event at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. She surpassed the previous world record set by Great Britain's Phoebe Pine Paterson, logging a score of 703 out of 720. Sheetal's remarkable performance has garnered widespread admiration and inspired many to advance directly to the round of 16.
Despite competing without arms, 17-year-old Sheetal nearly broke the world record at the Paralympics, falling just one point short behind Turkey's Öznur Cüre, in the ranking round, setting a new world record with 704. Iran's Fatemeh Hemmati was third with 696 points. Sheetal may face Chile's Mariana Zuniga, silver medalist of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics next whereas Mariana will be up against Republic of Korea's Choi Na Mi in the round of 32.
Sheetal mentioned, "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 and make my nation proud." Despite missing the individual record, Sheetal (703) and Rakesh Kumar (696) have set a new world record of 1399 in the compound mixed team qualification.
Sheetal Devi, born with phocomelia, a rare disorder of underdeveloped limbs, became the first Indian woman to win two gold medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, winning golds in individual and mixed team events, and silver in the women's double compound open. She also clinched a silver medal in the individual event at the 023 World Championships.
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