Sheetal Devi is an Indian para-archer. She was born in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. She was born with a rare condition called phocomelia, due to which she was born without hands. She belonged to a poor family. Her father is a farmer and her mother takes care of goats. 16-year-old Sheetal created history by winning three medals including two gold in the Para Games held in Hangzhou, China.
Sheetal was trained as an archer by Abhilasha Chaudhary and Kuldeep Wadhwan. At first the coach wanted to help her with prosthetics, but the doctors said that prosthetics are not possible in her case. Sheetal is fond of climbing trees with her feet. The coach started training Sheetal. She faced a lot of difficulties in training, but she learned to walk as an archer with her feet. After that, for the first time in 2021, she participated in a youth competition of the Indian Army in Kishtwar. She won.
India’s first handless athlete Sheetal missed out on making a world record. Sheetal scored 703 out of 720 points in the world record. Turkey’s Curie Girdi overtook her by getting an extra point. Sheetal qualified for the gold medal by securing the second position.
Shitak Devi was honored by the President Draupadi Murmu Arjun Awards. She was awarded the Arjun Award in 2024.