It was a perfect start to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games for Indian archer Sheetal Devi, who hit a bullseye shot at the beginning of the qualifiers last Thursday (Aug 29). 

In addition to wowing the crowd, the 17-year-old debutante has also gone viral after a clip of her performance was uploaded online.

The 30-second clip shows the archer, who was born without arms and uses her legs to shoot, loading an arrow with her feet and clutching the bow between her toes. She positions the bow on her shoulder and takes aim, leaning back and releasing the bowstring with her jaw.

The camera pans to reveal the bullseye shot - which earned her a full score of 10 - as the audience breaks out into applause.

Netizens were similarly impressed, lauding Sheetal for her "incredible skill".

"Poetry in motion," wrote one X user.

With a total score of 703 out of 720 in the qualifiers, Sheetal finished second and advanced to the quarterfinals. She was eliminated in that round after scoring one point less than her opponent from Chile.

And while she bowed out of the women's event, Sheetal and teammate Rakesh Kumar later went on to clinch the bronze medal in the mixed compound open archery event on Tuesday (Sept 3), making the teen India’s youngest Paralympic medallist.

Sheetal was born with a rare congenital anomaly called phocomelia, leading to underdeveloped limbs. She started archery when she was 15 and won two golds and one silver medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com

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