The Olympic Archery competition includes both Team and Individual events for men and women.
Key Facts
Venue: Lord’s Cricket Ground
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Saturday 4 August
Gold medals: 4
Athletes: 128
Archery: A history of the sport
Archery developed as a sport in Medieval England, where tournaments were held to encourage the military art of the Archer in peacetime.
Today’s bows are made from special aluminium alloy and laminated carbon materials. They are designed to shoot aluminium and carbon graphite arrows at speeds of more than 150mph.
Archery at the Games
Archery made its debut in the 1900s as one of the only sports open to women. It was dropped from the Olympic programme in 1920, but returned at the Munich 1972 Games.
The Team competition was introduced at the Seoul 1988 Games.
How to play – and win
Points are scored by hitting a target consisting of five coloured rings. The closer the arrow lands to the centre of the target, the higher the score achieved.
At the Olympic Games, the targets are 122cm in diameter. Archers shoot their arrows from a distance of 70m.
Archers, 64 men and 64 women, compete head-to-head (similar to Tennis) through a series of knock-out ‘elimination’ rounds until only the medalists remain.
Jargon buster
* Boss: the name for an Archery target.
* Nock: Used to place an arrow on a bow string.
* Robin Hood: describes a shot that splits the shaft of an arrow already in the target.
* Spotter: An official scorer who uses a telescope to identify the arrow’s exact position.
* Bowman: An archer.
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