Sheetal_Devi
Sheetal Devi
Indian para Archer
Sheetal Devi (born 10 January 2007) is an Indian Para-archer.[1] Devi was born with a rare medical condition called phocomelia,[2] which makes her the first and the only international para-archery champion without upper limbs.[3] She received the Arjuna Award 2023 from the President of India on 9 January 2024.[4][5]
.png) Sheetal Devi at the 2022 Asian Para Games | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian |
| Born | (2007-01-10) 10 January 2007 (age 17) Loidhar, Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Parent(s) | Mann Singh (father), Shakti Devi (mother) |
Medal record | |
In the women's compound bow at the 2022 Asian Para Games,[6] Devi received two gold medals in mixed doubles and women's individual after winning a silver medal in women's double compound.[7]
She was born in Loidhar village, Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir.[6] In 2019, Sheetal attended a youth event in Kishtwar where she was noticed by the Indian Army's Rashtriya Rifles unit resulting in the Army supporting her education and providing medical assistance.[8]
In the youth event organized by Indian army, the army coaches Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Wadhwan noticed her confidence and decided to train her. As she was born with Phocomelia, she had no arms. So firstly the coaches decided to help her with prosthetics. But the medics said that prosthetics were not possible in her case. Here, she said that she was fond of and has expertise in climbing trees using her legs. This was a very pleasant surprise for the coaches. Now coaches had one more challenge to face, they had never trained a person for archery who has no arms. But coaches did some research about whether it was possible to train her, and eventually they came to know about Matt Stutzman , who was armless and used his legs for archery. This made coaches very confident and within 11 months of training, Sheetal Devi participated in Asian Para Games and won two gold medals for India.[9]
| Year | Award | Awarded by | Result | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Best Youth Athlete of the Year | Asian Paralympic Committee | Won | [10][11] |
| 2023 | Arjuna award | Govt. of India | Won | [4] |
- "World's first armless woman archer gets her wings at army camp in Jammu". Hindustan Times. 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- "Asian Para Games: No arms? No problem for Asian para-archery champion Sheetal Devi". ESPN. 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- "Who is Sheetal Devi? Teenage armless archer bags three medals in Asian Para Games in China". CNBCTV18. 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- "The Golden Girl of India Sheetal Devi receives Arjuna Award from President of India". India Today. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- "Sheetal Devi Honoured With Arjuna Award: Well-Deserved Birthday Gift To World's No. 1 Para-Archer At 17". TimesNow. 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
- "Sheetal Devi: With three medals at Asian Para Games, 16-year-old armless archer from J&K is making waves". The Indian Express. 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- PTI (2023-10-27). "Armless archer Sheetal Devi first Indian woman to win 2 Asian Para Games gold as country's medal rush continues". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- "World's first armless woman archer gets her wings at army camp in Jammu". Hindustan Times. 2023-08-04. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- "Sheetal Devi The Armless Archer की अद्भुत कहानी - हाथ नहीं है फिर भी जीते 3 मेडल". Anmoll (in Hindi). 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
- "Para Archer Sheetal Devi Wins Best Youth Athlete Of 2023 Honour At Asian Awards". The Chenab Times. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- "Sheetal Devi, India's 16-Year-Old Para Archery Champion, Wins Best Youth Athlete Of 2023 Honour At Asian Awards". Outlook (magazine). 26 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
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