Archery

Archery is one of the oldest sports still practised today, and is closely linked to the development of human civilisation. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and warfare; the earliest evidence of its use comes from South African sites such as Sibudu Cave, where arrowheads dating from approximately 64,000 years ago have been found. The first recorded archery tournaments took place in the People's Republic of China during the Zhou dynasty (1027‑256 BC). In 1931, the sport evolved around the globe and the international archery federation—now known as World Archery—was founded.

Targets are 122cm in diameter and positioned 70m away from the archers, who must shoot their arrows as close to the centre of the target as possible in order to beat their opponents. Olympic archery comprises five events: two individual competitions for men and women, two team competitions (one each for men and women), and a mixed team competition, which returns to the programme after making its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Archery requires great concentration and dexterity; archers must overcome their nerves as a single mistake can prove costly in competition. Individual competitions at the Games begin with the ranking round, where each of the 64 archers shoot 72 arrows to determine their ranking for the single-elimination bracket. The athletes compete in this knockout system until the final according to their ranking, with the top‑ranked archer facing off against the 64th‑ranked archer, the second‑ranked against the 63rd‑ranked, and so on.

The team event uses the same ranking results from the individual competition to determine seeding for the teams; the top four teams receive a bye into the quarterfinals, while the rest of the field competes in a single-elimination bracket. The mixed team event also uses the results of the ranking round to qualify and seed teams.

Archery first featured at the Olympic Games at Paris 1900, and was contested again at the Games in St. Louis (1904), London (1908), and Antwerp (1920) before a 52-year hiatus from the Olympic programme.

Archery was reintroduced at the Games for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and has remained on the Olympic programme ever since. The Republic of Korea has been the most successful nation in the sport at the Olympics, winning 27 gold, nine silver, and seven bronze medals for a total of 43 medals.