Held at Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Archery competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games will call for pinpoint precision and nerves of steel.
Key facts
Venue: Lord's Cricket Ground
Dates: Friday 27 July – Friday 3 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
Archery dates back around 10,000 years, when bows and arrows were first used for hunting and warfare, before it developed as a competitive activity in medieval England. A tense and testing sport that requires immense reserves of skill and nerve, Archery is now practised in more than 140 countries around the world.
The basics
The object of the sport is simple: to shoot arrows as close to the centre of a target as possible. Olympic Archery targets are 122 centimetres in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Archers shoot at the target from a distance of 70 metres.
At the Olympic Games, the two individual Archery competitions (one for men, one for women) will be played in a knockout format. Matches will be played over the best of five sets, with each set consisting of three arrows per archer.
The winners of each match will qualify for the next round, until the last two archers go head to head in the gold medal match. A knockout format will also be used for the men’s and women’s team competitions, which features teams of three archers competing against each other in a best-of-24-arrows format.
Olympic Archery, past and present
Archery made its Olympic debut at Paris 1900, was dropped from the programme after the 1908 Games, and then returned for a single appearance in 1920. After a 52-year gap, the sport was reintroduced at Munich 1972 and has remained on the Olympic programme ever since.
For London 2012, the Archery competition will connect the old with the new at Lord’s Cricket Ground. During the knockout phase, archers will shoot from in front of the 19th-century Pavilion across the hallowed cricket square towards the modern Media Centre.
Key facts
Venue: Lord's Cricket Ground
Dates: Friday 27 July – Friday 3 August
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
Archery dates back around 10,000 years, when bows and arrows were first used for hunting and warfare, before it developed as a competitive activity in medieval England. A tense and testing sport that requires immense reserves of skill and nerve, Archery is now practised in more than 140 countries around the world.
The basics
The object of the sport is simple: to shoot arrows as close to the centre of a target as possible. Olympic Archery targets are 122 centimetres in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Archers shoot at the target from a distance of 70 metres.
At the Olympic Games, the two individual Archery competitions (one for men, one for women) will be played in a knockout format. Matches will be played over the best of five sets, with each set consisting of three arrows per archer.
The winners of each match will qualify for the next round, until the last two archers go head to head in the gold medal match. A knockout format will also be used for the men’s and women’s team competitions, which features teams of three archers competing against each other in a best-of-24-arrows format.
Olympic Archery, past and present
Archery made its Olympic debut at Paris 1900, was dropped from the programme after the 1908 Games, and then returned for a single appearance in 1920. After a 52-year gap, the sport was reintroduced at Munich 1972 and has remained on the Olympic programme ever since.
For London 2012, the Archery competition will connect the old with the new at Lord’s Cricket Ground. During the knockout phase, archers will shoot from in front of the 19th-century Pavilion across the hallowed cricket square towards the modern Media Centre.
Jargon buster
- Boss: The target, usually a square black block made of compacted foam, to which the target face is attached.
- Bowman: An archer.
- Draw: The act of pulling back the bow string in preparation for shooting.
- Nock: A notch at the end of an arrow that rests against the bow string.
Archery
9out of 10 based on 10 ratings. 9 user reviews.
9out of 10 based on 10 ratings. 9 user reviews.
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