History of archery
Archery was originally developed as a form of hunting. As a long-range weapon, the bow played an important role in military conflicts for a long time. There are archaeological finds of fully preserved arrows that prove that bows and arrows have been used by humans for around 12,000 years.
Modern archery developed in England in the 16th century. The first known tournament took place there in 1583 with over 3,000 participants. In the middle of the 19th century, archery became a popular women’s sport in Great Britain.
Archery was part of the program for the first time at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. Competitions were also held at the games in St. Louis (1904), London (1908) and Antwerp (1920). After a 52-year break, the sport was reintroduced in Munich in 1972 and has been part of the program ever since.
In Germany, awareness of the sport increased with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The silver medal won by Lisa Unruh from Marzahn in the individual competition is the main reason for this. Her bronze medal with the team at the next Games in Tokyo further increased her public recognition.
Archery at the Olympics
There are a variety of disciplines and competitions in archery. However, only the World Archery Federation (WA) outdoor competition, which is shot with a recurve bow, is Olympic.
In this discipline, the target has a diameter of 122 cm and is 70 m away from the shooter. In a qualifying round, 64 athletes each shoot a total of 72 arrows, which are divided into two rounds. In each round, 6 times 6 arrows are shot, for each of which 4 minutes are allowed. A maximum of 10 points can be scored per arrow, i.e. 720 points in total. The results of the qualifying round determine the pairings for the subsequent knockout round (1st place against 64th place, 2nd place against 63rd place, etc.). In these duels, three arrows are shot per set. Two points are awarded for winning a set, and one point each in the event of a tie. Whoever reaches 6 points first wins the duel and moves on to the next round.
A total of five competitions will be held. Two individual and two team competitions, each for athletes and a mixed team tournament. The team competitions use the results from the qualifying rounds of the individual competitions to determine the seeding list for the knockout round. However, the top four teams have already qualified directly for the quarter-finals. The pairings for the mixed competition are also determined by qualification results.
Archery equipment
The most important piece of equipment is the bow. There are different types of bow. However, the most commonly used are recurve and compound bows. The arrows are also absolutely essential. These can be made of wood, fiberglass, aluminum or carbon, but aluminum and carbon arrows have the best flight characteristics. In addition, a quiver (for easy and safe transportation of the arrows), a tensioning cord (for safe tensioning and untensioning of the bow), a finger guard (made of leather and covers the front of the finger) and an arm guard (prevents injuries from arrow contact) are required.
Archery in Berlin An overview of Berlin clubs that offer archery can be found here
