Olympic Archery

0 Comments | Rating: 0 | |

Archery has been around since prehistoric times and was developed as a sport in Medieval England. Archery first appeared in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900 and has been contested 13 times since then in various formats. As of 1972, the events began to use a standardized form and more nations started to compete in the event.

Sixty-four archers compete in the individual Olympic archery event both in the men's and women's competition. Each archer shoots a total of 72 arrows in groups of 12 arrows at a time (called 'ends'). Any country that has three archers competing in the individual events is able to send those same three archers to compete in the team event. A total of 27 arrows will be fired in each match with three ends of 9 arrows. Each archer will fire three arrows per end for a total of 9 in the match.

Today's bows are made out of state-of-the-art fiber glass which allows arrows to be fired at up to 150mph. Archers are aiming at a target from set distances (70 meters in Olympic competition) and with a set time limit in place. The targets are marked with 10 evenly spaced rings with a value of one to 10, the center being worth the most. Advancement to the next round is in the same format for both the individual and team events. After all of the arrows are fired, scores are totaled which creates a seeding for elimination.

The London 2012 archery event will be held at the Lord's Cricket Ground which is among the oldest and most revered venues being used during the Games. The archery competition will be held inside the stadium in a temporary venue able to seat 6,500 spectators. This will be removed once the Games are completed.

Archery has great tradition and, while not one of the most energetic of the Olympics sports, it takes a lot of skill, concentration and a steady hand for sure. South Korea and China are both strong archery nations and dominated the medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.