Introduction Anyone
familiar with the legend of Robin Hood knows archery competitions
date back at least to mediaeval times. Indeed, today's archers
still honour the fabled outlaw. The term "Robin Hood" now
refers to splitting the shaft of an arrow already in the target
with another arrow.
The
equipment has crept forward in its technology since Robin
and his merry men had the run of Sherwood Forest, but the
sport of archery remains essentially unchanged. A recurve
bow coated in fibreglass has become standard, and arrows made
of aluminium and carbon graphite can travel more than 240km/h,
but the most important requirements are straightforward: steady
hands, strong shoulders, flexible muscles, sharp eyes and
nerves of steel.
Archery
was a feature of the Olympic Games several times from 1900
to 1920, but then disappeared for more than 50 years. It reappeared
at Munich in 1972 and has remained a fixture ever since.
Understanding Archery
 Archery
is a thrilling sport that is growing in popularity. Anyone
can participate, man, woman or child. To be successful as
an athlete in this sport requires years of practice and development
of both mental and physical skills. Archers develop techniques
to fully control their body movement, their endurance and
their mental steadiness, when preparing to meet the challenge
of match days.
The
bow
The
recurve bow consists of the following main parts: the riser;
the two limbs; the bow string
 The riser is the central part of the bow, where
the grip is located: it is normally made of a special aluminium
alloy. The two limbs are mounted to its two tips, which are
made of laminated material; their elasticity and strength
gives the arrow a controlled flight. The bow string passes
through the limbs at the tip and is stretched over the whole
body of the bow. An adjustable sight and the stabilisers (to
keep the bow in balance as it vibrates) are fitted to the
riser.
The
arrows
The arrows consist of a shaft of max.9.3 mm-diameter and of
a length appropriate to the draw length of the archer.
A
metal point at the front of the shaft (the head, or point
of the arrow) aids the arrow to pierce the target. A plastic
fletching at the back of the shaft enables the arrow to have
a controlled flight. At the shaft end is the nock, in order
to enable the arrow to be placed on the string. In today's
competition, arrows are made of carbon.
The
target
 The target consists of the face, the surface on which
the 'rings' are printed, and the buttress, the layer in which
the arrow lodges.
The
face with the buttress is mounted on a target stand in such
a way that the centre of the target stands 1.3m above the
ground. The diameter of the target is 1.22m; each ring is
12.2cm wide; and the innermost ring, the ten, is 12.2cm in
diameter.
The
Match: the "Olympic round"
In
the context of the Olympic Games, the Archery competition
is called the Olympic round; competitors only shoot with -
the recurve bow. The Olympic round, where a total of 128 archers
compete (64 men and 64 women), will last seven days in the
2004 Olympics.
 Before the Olympic round begins, a ranking round will be shot,
a one day competition, during which archers are ranked from
1 to 64 depending on their score. Six ends of 12 arrows each
(i.e. 72 arrows in all) are shot at the target. The total
score from the shots determines the archer's positioning in
the ranking list. The same system is used for ranking the
teams, which consist of three archers per team all of the
same nationality.
After
the ranking round the archers are grouped in pairs in a matchplay
situation.
Individual
event:
Arrangements for the Olympic round follow the competitors'
rankings.
- No
1 is matched against No. 64, No. 2 against No. 63, and
so on (1/32 elimination).
- Each
archer shoots six 'ends' of three arrows at a time, with
a maximum of 40 seconds time allowed per arrow.
- The
winners go through to the next rounds (1/16, 1/8) until
there are only eight archers left.
- The
following round is the quarter final, and in it four ends
of three arrows are shot at a time, again with a maximum
of 40 seconds time allowed per arrow.
- The
four winners then compete in the semi finals and the finals
for the bronze, silver, and gold medals.
Team
events:
In both men's and women's team events, where teams
consist of three archers from the ranking round, the 16 best
national teams compete against each other in matches. Each
team shoots three ends of nine arrows (each member shooting
three arrows) with a maximum of 3 minutes per end. The four
teams left then compete for the medals.
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