Archery

The bow and arrow changed the course of history. It allowed humans, perhaps as far back as the Stone Age, to hunt for food. It was also a huge advance in warfare.

Archery has left such an indelible mark on civilisation that it has been ranked alongside the development of speech and mastery of fire as an influence on culture.

For around five millennia the story of the bow and arrow has been writ large in folklore and history.

In the climax to Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus’s prowess with the bow is pivotal in a battle with Penelope’s suitors.

In 1066 William the Conqueror’s army overran Britain - and legend has it that King Harold was shot in the eye with an arrow.

Around 150 years later Genghis Khan’s armies, using their short powerful bows, conquered much of the known world.

And of course no mention of archery is complete without reference to Robin Hood, who used his archery skills to rob from the rich and give to the poor in Nottinghamshire, and William Tell, the Swiss archer who successfully shot an arrow through an apple placed on the head of his son.


The Game

However, none of these feats will be on show in Sydney when the Olympic archery program begins in September.

Rather than shooting at the eyes of kings or strategically-placed apples, Olympic archers are required to hit targets.

The format of target-shooting archery competitions has changed little since they were first introduced in the reign of Henry the XIIIth in the 1500s.

Neither have the skills required - hawk-like eyesight, the steady hands of a surgeon and the nerves of a poker player.

But the technology involved in the creation of the archer’s basic equipment has advanced markedly.

While the medieval archer used a bow made from a single piece of timber and timber arrows, the Olympic equivalent will use a hi-tech, fibreglass-coated carbon fibre bow capable of firing aluminium or graphite arrows at speeds of up to 240 kilometres an hour.

At the Olympics, archery has a long but interrupted history. A number of archery events were contested at the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1920.

But it then disappeared for more than half a century for want of a set of international rules.

Archery returned to the Olympic program at Munich in 1972. Men’s and women’s teams events were added to the program, which had included men’s and women’s individual events, at Seoul in 1988.


The Format

Before the Olympic competition begins, a ranking round takes place to determine seedings for the main draw of 64 men and 64 women.

The draw for this round is made randomly by computer. During the ranking round, archers shoot 12 ends of six arrows each with a time limit of four minutes per end.

Once the ranking is completed, single elimination rounds begin in both individual and team events, with the top-ranked player or team playing the bottom-ranked, and so on.

During the elimination round, each archer shoots six ends of three arrows each, with a time limit of 40 seconds per arrow.

This continues until four archers are left. They qualify for the semi-finals and must then shoot four ends of three arrows within the same time limit.

In the teams event, each team is made up of three archers. The ranking round is used to identify the top 16 teams, which continue into the elimination round.

Each team shoots three ends of nine arrows, broken down as one end of three arrows for each team member.

The big difference in the team competition is that the time allowed for each competitor to shoot their arrows is halved - each team member has just 20 seconds to shoot each arrow.


Qualification

The World Target Championships in 1999 were the key to qualification for the bulk of those competing at the Sydney Games.

In each of the men’s and women’s events, the eight best performing teams qualified, plus the top 19 individuals whose countries did not qualify a team.

Australia qualifies automatically and three competitors are awarded places after qualifying tournaments in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. The final three places are wildcards awarded by officials.

Since archery returned to the Olympic fold in 1972, it has been dominated by two countries - the United States in the men’s competition and South Korea in the women’s.

The US men have won six of a possible 10 gold medals over that period while South Korea has gone one better in the women’s.

In 1996 the star of the show in the men’s event was charismatic Californian Justin Huish.

At just 21, Huish, with his ponytail, backwards baseball cap and mirror sunglasses, won the individual event and led the US to the teams gold medal.

But despite continuing to be among the top archers in the world since Atlanta, Huish won't be part of the American team in Sydney.

Huish resigned from the team in March after being arrested on drug possession charges, which he has denied, in February.

He stood down, saying he wanted to allow the archery team to concentrate on preparations for Sydney without any distractions.

Among the contenders to claim his crown will be world number one, Frenchman Lionel Torres and world champion Hong Sung Chil of South Korea.

Korea’s domination of the women’s events looks likely to continue, with Lee Eun Kyung winning the world championships in France last year, and her compatriot Kim Jo Sun taking the bronze.

Among the challengers will be 17-year-old American Karen Scavotto and the British woman who split the South Koreans at the worlds, Alison Williamson.

The Italians will also be a force after winning both the men’s and women’s teams events at the worlds.

In the men’s, South Korea finished second with the US third, while in the women’s China was second with Germany third.


The Team

Australia’s archers have enjoyed some success at Olympic and world championship level in recent years.

While they will not start among the favourites, the Australians will be hopeful of a podium finish somewhere within the team.

At the Atlanta Games in 1996 the Australian team finished fourth, after setting a world record during the elimination rounds.

In 1991, Simon Fairweather became Australia’s first archery world champion and has competed in the past three Olympic Games. He’ll be leading the charge for Australia in Sydney, along with his younger sister, Kate.

Besides the Fairweathers, other members of the team are Scott Hunter-Russell, Matthew Gray, Melissa Jennison and Michelle Tremelling.

© 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation