Archery

Archery is one of the oldest known sports. Use of the bow and arrow for hunting can be traced back to the Aurignacians, a race of people existing 15,000 years ago. By the 14th century, archers were found to be valuable as soldiers and the English kings made archery practice mandatory for the British soldiers. Archery as a sport became popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1676, the first organized group, the Royal Company of Archers, was formed in England for the purpose of advancing the sport. This was followed in 1781 by the Royal Toxophilite Society. The first British championships were conducted in 1844.

Archery is governed worldwide by the World Archery Federation (WAF), originally the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l’Arc (FITA) (was also known as the International Archery Federation), that was founded on 4 September 1931, in Lwów, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine), with seven founding members: France, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Poland, the United States, Hungary, and Italy. Through 2020, 156 national federations were members of WA. Archery was first held as a sport in the 1900 Paris Olympics and again in 1904, 1908, and 1920, but then left the Olympic Program. In those years it was possible for an athlete to compete in multiple events and win several medals. The top Olympic medal winner is Hubert Van Innis of Belgium, who competed in the 1900 and 1920 Olympics, winning 10 medals, six of them gold.

When the sport was returned to the Olympics in 1972, there was only one event for men and one for women. In 1988, team events for men and women were added to the program. Also, in 1988, the individual formats were changed. Previously (1972-84), men and women shot a Double FITA Round (288 arrows at various distances). There is now a qualifying round and the archers and teams then engage in single-elimination knock-out matches until a champion is crowned. The sport is currently dominated by Korea (South), especially among the women.