Archery: A Global Sport

Archery is one of the oldest sports still practised today, with the earliest evidence of its existence dating back to the Paleolithic period, around 10,000 BC. It is believed that archery was developed in Africa around 70,000 years ago and was used for hunting and warfare.

Over time, archery spread across the world, with ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians, Nubians, Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Parthians, Romans, Indians, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese fielding large numbers of archers in their armies. In the Middle Ages, English longbowmen achieved notable victories in the Hundred Years' War, while the crossbow became widely used in continental Europe.

Today, archery has evolved into a competitive sport, with various disciplines and equipment. Target archery, field archery, and indoor archery are the three main categories recognised by World Archery, the global governing body of the sport. While archery is no longer widely used for warfare, it is still practised for hunting and as a recreational activity in many parts of the world.

Archery in the Olympics

Archery is one of the world's oldest sports, with a history dating back thousands of years. It was included in the Olympic Games as early as 1900, and has been a permanent fixture since 1972.

Archery in the Early Olympic Era

Archery featured in the 1900, 1904, 1908, and 1920 Olympic Games. However, the competition formats were inconsistent, often based on local rules, and the sport was subsequently dropped from the programme. During this early era, archery was one of the first Olympic sports to include women's events, in 1904, and team events, in 1908.

Archery's Return to the Olympics

After a 52-year absence, archery returned to the Olympic programme for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. This marked the beginning of the modern era of archery in the Olympics, with the introduction of standardised forms and the participation of many nations. Since then, archery has been a permanent fixture at the Games.

Olympic Archery Competition Format

Olympic archery consists of five events: two individual competitions for men and women, two team competitions (one each for men and women), and a mixed team competition. Recurve archery is the only discipline featured, with athletes using recurve bows to shoot at targets 70 metres away. The competition starts with a ranking round, where each of the 64 archers (32 men and 32 women) shoot 72 arrows to determine their rankings for the single-elimination bracket. The athletes then compete in a knockout system, with the top-ranked archer facing the 64th, the second-ranked facing the 63rd, and so on. The team event uses the same ranking results from the individual competition for seeding, with the top four teams receiving a bye to the quarterfinals. The mixed team event also uses the ranking round results for qualification and seeding.

Top Olympic Archery Nations

The Republic of Korea has dominated Olympic archery, winning 27 gold medals and a total of 43 medals since their debut in the sport at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Korean archers currently hold all five active Olympic records. The United States has also produced top archers, with Justin Huish and Darrell Pace winning gold medals in 1996 and 1976, respectively.

Archery in the Paralympics

Archery has been a permanent fixture at the Paralympic Games since their inception in 1960. It was one of the original sports at the inaugural games and has been included in every edition since. The sport is rooted in the history of the Paralympic movement.

Para archery was used as a rehabilitation activity for injured veterans by Dr Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the 1940s. Dr Guttmann held the first archery tournament for 16 patients at the hospital in 1948, and the competition was run annually. In 1952, a Dutch team participated, setting the foundation for an international event for impaired athletes and acting as a precursor to the Paralympic Games.

Paralympic archery competitions are often held in the same venue as the Olympic Games. The rules and classifications for para archery have evolved significantly since the sport first started, with the last major update coming in 2014. The Paralympic competition format is identical to that of the Olympic Games. Archers shoot 72 arrows from a distance of 70 metres at a target of 122 cm. A perfect score is 720.

At the Paralympics, archers compete in the following two sport classes:

• W1: Athletes have a physical impairment that includes the loss of leg and trunk function. They compete in a wheelchair and their arms show a loss of muscle strength, coordination or range of movement.
• Open: Archers in this class can compete in a wheelchair, standing or resting on a stool. They have a strong activity limitation in their trunk and legs with normal arm function or have a balance impairment.

Male and female athletes with physical impairments can compete in para archery, either standing or in wheelchairs. There are three classifications, with two for wheelchair users and one for standing athletes. The events are compound bow, recurve and team.

Notable Paralympians in archery include Paola Fantato of Italy, who is archery's most successful Paralympian with eight medals across five Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2004. Zahra Nemati made history at London 2012 when she became the first Iranian athlete to win gold at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. She successfully defended her title at Rio 2016. Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand became the first paraplegic athlete to participate in the Olympic Games when she competed in Los Angeles in 1984, after winning gold at the 1980 Paralympic Games in Arnhem.

World Archery Federation

Archery, the use of a bow and arrow, has been practised for thousands of years, dating back to the Middle Stone Age in Africa. The World Archery Federation (WA) is the global governing body for the sport, with 159 national federations and archery associations as members. The WA is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

The WA was previously known as FITA, or the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc, which was founded in 1931 in Poland with the aim of creating regular archery championships and returning archery to the Olympic Games. Archery was indeed reinstated at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and the sport has been a regular fixture at the Games since.

The WA organises various archery competitions, including the World Archery Championships, which features five principal formats: Outdoor, Indoor, Youth, Para-Archery, and Field. Each format is held every two years, with the exception of the Ski Archery World Championships, which have only been held once, in 2007.

The WA also hosts the annual Hyundai Archery World Cup, which takes place across several stages around the world, and the Indoor Archery World Series, which replaced the World Archery Indoor Championships in 2018.

The WA calculates world rankings for each category of outdoor competitive archery, including men's and women's recurve, compound, and mixed team events. These rankings are based on a combination of the tournament's ranking factor and points earned according to the competitor's final position.

In addition to its focus on competitive archery, the WA has also taken a stand on geopolitical issues. In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the WA banned athletes, officials, and technical staff from Russia and Belarus from participating in international archery events and prohibited the display of their flags and anthems.

Archery World Cup

The Archery World Cup, also known as the Hyundai Archery World Cup, is an international archery circuit organised annually by the World Archery Federation. The competition, which started in 2006, was introduced following the success of the 2003 World Archery Championships in New York and the 2004 Summer Olympics. The aim was to make the sport more popular and attractive to spectators, with matches held in 'spectacular' locations and finals broadcast online.

The Archery World Cup consists of four stages in four countries, with the top eight archers of each category advancing to an additional stage to contest the World Cup Final. The prize money for the 2022 season World Cup Finals was 20,000 CHF for 1st place, 10,000 CHF for 2nd, 5,000 CHF for 3rd, and 1,000 CHF for 4th. The World Cup has been praised for its innovative approach to the sport, helping to raise its profile and reach.

The 2023 Archery World Cup was the 17th edition of the competition and consisted of five events, running from 18 April to 10 September 2023. The calendar included China, India, Slovenia, South Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Mexico, France, and the United States.

The 2024 season, the 18th edition, will be held in Shanghai (China), Yecheon (Korea), and Antalya (Turkey) between April and June, with a grand final in Tlaxcala, Mexico, in October. The Antalya World Cup will be the last qualifier before the Paris Olympics, with archers from 49 countries and regions competing for spots.

Archery in different countries

Archery is a popular sport worldwide, with a long history in many countries. While reliable statistics on the popularity of archery per country are not readily available, some nations have a strong archery tradition and are known for their success in Olympic archery. Here is a look at archery in different countries:

South Korea

South Korea has a long and strong tradition of archery, and it is considered a part of the nation's DNA. Archery is highly valued in Korean culture, and the country has produced some of the top archers in the world. The ancient Koreans developed a highly reflexive horn bow called the Gakgung, which played a pivotal role in ancient Korea's military strategy. In modern times, archery is taught in elementary and primary schools, with a strong emphasis on proper form and technique. The South Korean Olympic archery team has won medals in every Olympics since its debut in 1984. The sport was standardised in 1899, with specific requirements for bow and arrow types and target distances. South Korea holds some of the best archery tournaments in the world, and celebrities also participate in star-packed tournaments held twice a year.

United States of America

The USA may be a young country, but archery has gained immense popularity over time. Native American tribes practised archery for hunting and warfare before the colonial era. American engineers, such as Holless Wilbur Allen, played a significant role in the evolution of archery with the development of the compound bow, now the most popular type of bow in the USA. Modern recurve and composite bow designs dominate Western archery. The USA has a large number of archery ranges and official clubs, and American archers have achieved high rankings in the Olympics and world rankings. The country also offers a wide range of archery events, including regional, national, and state tournaments.

Japan

Japan has a long and unbroken tradition of archery, with its own unique form called Kyudo, a martial art based entirely on archery. The traditional Japanese bow, or yumi, has an asymmetrical shape and is used in both Kyudo and yabusame (mounted archery). Japan has a long-standing tradition of archery contests, such as the Tōshiya, dating back to the early 1600s. Japan's rich history and culture of archery contribute to its success in modern archery competitions.

Mongolia

Mongolia, like Korea and Japan, has an extensive history with the bow, especially with its united tribes under Genghis Khan, who were primarily light cavalry archers. The original design of their traditional recurve composite bow was replaced by the larger Manchu bow from China. Archery is a prominent feature of the annual Nadaam Festival, a nationally recognised event celebrating Mongolian culture and recreational activities. The festival includes Mongolian wrestling, horse racing, and archery.

China

China has witnessed an explosive growth in the popularity of traditional and modern archery in the last decade. The country now produces bows in the traditional style, as well as other historical bows. Modern Chinese archers have adapted 17th-century archery manuals for contemporary use.

France

While France may not be well-known for its archers in military history, modern competitive archery has gained popularity in the country. France has won a significant number of medals in Olympic archery, particularly in men's retrieval events. Bowhunting is legal in France, and all game animals can be hunted with a bow and arrow, contributing to the growing popularity of archery as a sport.

Italy

Italy consistently performs at a high level in competitive archery and has won numerous medals in all events. The country hosts the annual Italian Challenge in Rimini, an international mixed pairs competition that has seen a steady increase in the number of participating athletes.

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