Mon Sep 02 03:55:21 UTC 2024: Armless archer Sheetal Devi made her mark at the Paris Paralympics, becoming one of the main attractions of the compound archery event. The young archer looked dejected as nerves seemed to have played their part in her late slump. She will be in action with Rakesh Kumar in the mixed compound event. Having secured the top seed after setting a new world record in the mixed ranking round earlier in the week, Rakesh and Sheetal received a bye to the quarter-final stage of the competition, scheduled for September 2.Born with a rare congenital disorder called phocomelia, which causes underdeveloped limbs, Sheetal has overcome incredible odds to become the first and only active female archer competing without arms. Sheetal’s journey into archery began when she was 15 years old. The army supported her education and provided medical assistance, which led to her introduction to archery. However, Sheetal surprised them by revealing her expertise in climbing trees using her legs, which gave them the confidence to train her for archery. The coaches, who had never trained a person without arms before, drew inspiration from Matt Stutzman, an armless archer who used his legs for archery. She rests the bow on the ground, loads the arrow with her right foot, and then clutches the bow with her leg, bringing it close to her chest. She wears a strap around her upper body with a release aid above her right shoulder, which she manipulates with her leg to release the arrow.

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