How often do we see a world champion in para sports make their place in the national team in the regularly abled section as well?
Sheetal Devi achieved this rare feat in 2025, at only 18 years of age, after one of her most challenging seasons where she had to literally relearn her basics because of a rule change.
The 'armless archer' is one of the iconic names in world archery, because of her unique action using her legs to shoot the arrow and the success she has had with this technique. Already a medallist at the biggest stages -- the Paralympics, World Championships and the Asian Games -- she became the first armless woman to become para world champion, this year.
Yet amid her many noteworthy international feats, there is a rather small, national-level result that truly exemplifies the incredible, indomitable spirit of Sheetal Devi: A few weeks after becoming the world champion in September 2025, she booked her spot in India's junior archery team for the Asia Cup Stage 3. She finished third among 60 archers -- all of whom use the full range of motion in their hands to shoot the bow -- in the national selection trials.
Even though this was in line with her new goal - to compete with 'able-bodied' archers, even as she excels in para compound archery -- it is rare to achieve this feat, especially so quickly. That the Asia Cup Stage 3 got cancelled is a dampener, but her initial selection is cause for inspiration, as much as hope.
This small step is a huge leap for the 18-year-old, who rose from Kishtwar, a town in Jammu and Kashmir, to claim the global archery stage as her own. "When I started competing, I had a small dream - to one day compete alongside the able-bodied. I didn't make it at first, but I kept going, learning from every setback. Today, that dream is one step closer," she wrote on social media.
Sheetal, born with phocomelia (a congenital disorder causing severe limb malformation), is a phenomenon. The scale of her able ambition and achievements are such that 'abled' and 'disabled' are just quirks of language that she has outgrown in 2025, with a will stronger than any weight human hands can carry.
Sports writing is prone to hyperbole and cliches, but in Sheetal Devi's case, her actions do speak louder than words.
Imagine the power required to pick up a compound bow, which has a peak draw weight of about 20.4 kg with only a couple of toes. Imagine the force applied on the softer muscle of the chin to adjust the arrow on the release aid attached to her right shoulder. Imagine the control needed to then stretch out her legs from a seated position, align the bow, and fire the arrow at a target 50 feet away. Repeatedly, with the scoreboard ticking.
Her natural ability aside, imagine the core strength, capacity to absorb pain, composure to stay focused arrow after arrow for an entire match... what Sheetal Devi does is an incredible feat of human proficiency.
In 2025, she had to relearn this after a new international rule on grip positioning meant that the bow could not touch the heel, she had to shoot using only here toes. With her new coach, Gaurav Sharma, Sheetal set out to adjust master to this new grip which resulted in a fresh wave of pain in her toes.
"There was so much pain in my leg. The soreness in my toes is still fresh, and it took a long time for me to adjust to the new grip," she told the World Archery website. And master it she did, winning three medals of every colour at the 2025 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. The gold was won by beating the great Oznur Cure Girdi, reigning Paralympic champion and the same athlete she'd lost to in the final two years back. She added this gold to a silver in the team event and bronze in mixed team.
And to think she is only 18 and has been doing this for years: through discovering the sport and making it into a successful career despite her physical setbacks. Through puberty, which can affect para sportswomen very differently. To then win major medals by relearning and repeating a strenuous archery pattern hour after hour, day after day, and even outshining some young players with the ability to use all their limbs is beyond fantastic.
Sheetal has been a standout para-athlete since her senior debut in 2023. Yet 2025 is different. She turned those silver and bronze into to her first major gold medal at the world championships and then turned up for the regular section trials and was among the top three there too.
For this rare achievement which only amplifies what a special athlete she, Sheetal Devi is ESPN India's Para Athlete of the Year.