London 2012 Olympic Archery

Archery dates back around 10,000 years, when bows and arrows were first used for hunting and warfare, before it developed as a competitive activity in medieval England. A tense and testing sport that requires immense reserves of skill and nerve, Archery is now practiced in more than 140 countries around the world. Archery made its Olympic debut at Paris 1900, was dropped from the programmed after the London 1908 Games, and then returned for a single appearance in 1920. After a 52-year gap, the sport was reintroduced at Munich 1972 and has remained on the Olympic programmed ever since. The object of the sport is simple: to shoot arrows as close to the center of a target as possible. Olympic Archery targets are 122cm in diameter, with the gold ring at the center (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Athletes shoot at the target from a distance of 70m. Athletes compete with recurve bows, distinctive as the limbs curve outwards at the top. Men and women compete separately, both as individuals and in teams of three. All four Archery events are played in a head-to-head elimination format. At the start of the competition all athletes take part in a ranking round. Athletes must shoot 72 arrows in 12 phases of six arrows each, with each athlete allowed four minutes per phase. The total score of all 72 arrows determines the rankings of each athlete. These are used to make the seedings for both the Individual and the Team events.   Find More Information On Archery Bows Here