Sheetal Devi: The Indian archer without arms shooting for Paralympics gold

The real challenge, however, was to figure out how to use more than just her legs to form a well-rounded, sustainable technique.

“We had to manage how to balance the strength in her legs, modify it and use it technically,” Chaudhary explains. “Devi has strong legs but we had to figure out how she would use her back to shoot.”

The trio then committed to a measured training routine, which began with Devi using a rubber band or TheraBand instead of a bow, to aim at targets placed at just a 5m distance.

As her confidence grew, so did the level of difficulty, and within just four months of starting out, she began to use a proper bow and hit targets at a 50m distance, the competition standard for the compound open category.

Within just two years, Devi went from learning to simply shoot an arrow at small distances to hitting six 10s in a row in the final of the women’s individual compound event at the Asian Para Games in 2023 to win the gold medal.

For context, 10 is the maximum number of points a player can win for a single shot by hitting the bullseye on the target board.

“Even when I shoot a nine, I’m only thinking about how I can convert that into a 10 on the next shot,” Devi said.

It’s not just about hard work – there were also sacrifices along the way.

Devi said she hasn’t gone home even once since she moved to Katra two years ago to train.

She now plans to return only after the Paralympics end, “hopefully with a medal”.

Either way, she is determined to give her best shot.

“I believe that no one has any limitations, it’s just about wanting something enough and working as hard as you can,” she said.

“If I can do it, anyone else can.”