What is archery?
Archery is one of the oldest sports still practised, and is closely linked to the development of civilisation. Using bows and arrows, the sport as a history dating back thousands of years. As a cultural advance, it was comparable to the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel.
By whom, where and when was archery invented?
Archery was the favourite sport of the Egyptian pharaohs during the 18th dynasty (1567-1320 BC). Many centuries later, some of the earliest recorded archery tournaments took place during the Zhou dynasty (1046 - 256 BC) in China. Such events were attended by Chinese nobility. Much later, English writers honoured the longbow for famous contributions to their country’s victories in the battles of Crécy, Agincourt and Poitiers.
In 1200 BC, the Hittites and Assyrians shot their bows from chariots, becoming fearsome opponents in battle. They made their bows with tendon, horn and wood, and also developed a new re-curved shape. This made their bows shorter and more powerful, making them easier to handle for an archer on horseback.
What are the rules of archery?
That depends on the type of archery being practised as sport, with different disciplines and rules regarding the type of bow that can be used. At the Olympics, outdoor target archery is practised with recurve bows. This sees athletes fire at targets 70 metres away, with competitors going head-to-head to win set points (with 2 points for winning a set or 1 point for tying a set), with the first to 6 set points winning the match. Other types of archery for sport include field archery, indoor archery, and para archery. Other bows that may be used include a compound bow or a barebow.
How is archery scored?
Each arrow can score from 0 to 10 points, with 10 points for hitting the smallest rings of the target. If the arrow is touching a line separating two scoring zones, the higher score counts. There is often also an inner-most ring, which also awards 10 points but is used as a tie-breaker if needed. After each set of three arrows per competitor, the archer with more points wins the set and picks up 2 set points in the match.
Archery and the Olympics
Archery first appeared in the Olympic Games in 1900, was contested again in 1904, 1908, and 1920, then again—after an absence of 52 years—from 1972 to the present. The most decorated archer in Olympic history is Hubert Van Innis of Belgium, who competed in 1900 and 1920, winning six gold and three silver medals.
Currently, five events are on the archery programme at each Olympic Games: men's and women's individual and team events, and a mixed team event.
Best archers to watch
The Republic of Korea produces some of the world's best archers, and has dominated the sport since the country hosted the 1988 Games in Seoul. The country has won 43 medals (27 gold medals) up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and athletes representing the Republic of Korea currently hold all five active Olympic records. An San, who won three golds at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, is a part of three of them, holding the women's individual ranking round, women's team ranking round, and mixed team ranking round records.
