Archery at the Summer Olympics

Archery first appeared in the Summer Olympics way back in 1900, and since then, it has been a part of 18 different Olympics. Over the years, archers from 105 countries have taken part in these events, with France showing up the most—15 times! One of the most amazing things about Olympic archery is how good archers from South Korea have been. Since 1984, they have won 32 out of 44 gold medals! The sport is managed by the World Archery Federation, and only one type of archery, called recurve archery, is allowed in the Olympics. Besides the regular Olympics, archery is also an event in the Summer Paralympics, where athletes with disabilities compete.

Summary

Archery first appeared in the Summer Olympics in 1900 and has been part of the games in 18 Olympics so far. Many countries have taken part, with France competing the most, 15 times. One clear trend is the great skill of archers from South Korea, who have won many gold medals since 1984.

History

The sport of archery first appeared at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Back then, there were seven different men's events with different distances. Later, at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, archery included both men and women, with six events total. Team archery also started here.

Archery didn’t appear again until the 1920 Summer Olympics, and it was only for men. Over the years, archery has been part of the Olympics eighteen times. In 1972 in Munich, the competition changed to a double FITA Round, with separate events for men and women. By 1988, team competitions were added. Since 1992, a new format with head-to-head matches has been used.

In (/wiki/1984_Summer_Olympic_Games) at Los Angeles, Neroli Fairhall from New Zealand became the first competitor with limited movement in the Olympic Games. Since 2004, archery events have sometimes been held in famous places like the Panathinaikos Stadium, Lord’s Cricket Ground, and the Sambodromo. In the 2024 Paris games, it was held outside the Hôtel des Invalides.

Medal table

Archery was first part of the Olympics in 1900, but the rules were different and only a few countries took part. Nations like France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and the United States competed, and sometimes only two countries were in an event, so no bronze medals were given.

In 1972, archery changed to use the same rules for everyone, and many more countries joined in. This table shows medals from all those years, both the early ones and the modern games.


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea	32	10	8	50
2	United States	14	11	10	35
3	Belgium	11	7	3	21
4	France	7	12	8	27
5	Italy	2	3	4	9
6	Great Britain	2	2	5	9
7	China	1	7	2	10
8	Soviet Union	1	3	3	7
9	Finland	1	1	2	4
9	Ukraine	1	1	2	4
11	Netherlands	1	1	1	3
12	Australia	1	0	2	3
13	Turkey	1	0	1	2
14	Spain	1	0	0	1
15	Japan	0	3	4	7
16	Germany	0	3	2	5
17	Chinese Taipei	0	2	2	4
18	ROC	0	2	0	2
18	Sweden	0	2	0	2
20	Mexico	0	1	3	4
21	Poland	0	1	1	2
21	Russia	0	1	1	2
23	Indonesia	0	1	0	1
24	Unified Team	0	0	2	2
Totals (24 entries)		76	74	66	216

Qualification

Qualification spots in archery are given to National Olympic Committees instead of to individual athletes. According to World Archery, the minimum age for an Olympic archer is 16. There are two ways a National Olympic Committee can earn qualification spots: by team or by an individual.

For each gender, if a National Olympic Committee earns a team qualification spot, they may send three archers to compete in that team event, and each archer also competes in the individual competition. Committees that earn individual qualification spots can only send one archer to the individual event.

Competition

From 1988 through 2016, the Olympic archery games had four events: men's individual, women's individual, men's team, and women's team. A mixed team event was added in 2020. In all events, archers shoot from 70 meters away.

In individual competitions, 64 archers start by shooting 72 arrows to rank them. They then compete in matches until only a few remain. In earlier Olympics, matches had archers shoot 18 arrows at once. Later changes made matches shorter and used sets of three arrows each.

Team events use the same ranking round as individual events. Teams of three archers compete in matches, with points given for each set of arrows. The first team to reach five points wins.

The mixed team event includes 16 teams, each with one man and one woman, also using the ranking round to decide who competes.

Events

Early Games

In the early Olympic Games, archery competitions had special events for each Olympics.

Modern Games

1900	1904	1908	1912	1920
7 events, men only	6 events, men and women	3 events, men and women	not held	10 events, men only
Au Cordon Doré, 50 metres Au Cordon Doré, 33 metres Au Chapelet, 50 metres Au Chapelet, 33 metres Sur la Perche à la Herse Sur la Perche à la Pyramide Championnat du Monde	Team round, men Team round, women Double American round, men Double Columbia round, women Double National round, women Double York round, men	Double National round, women Double York round, men Continental style, men		Individual fixed large bird Individual fixed small bird Individual moving bird, 50 metres Individual moving bird, 33 metres Individual moving bird, 28 metres Team fixed large bird Team fixed small bird Team moving bird, 50 metres Team moving bird, 33 metres Team moving bird, 28 metres

Event	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	24	Years
Current program
Men's individual	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	14
Men's team	–	–	–	–	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	10
Women's individual	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	14
Women's team	–	–	–	–	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	10
Mixed team	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	X	X	2

Events	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	50

Participating nations

Many countries have joined in the archery events at the Summer Olympics. Over 105 nations have taken part in these competitions.

Because of some serious issues, athletes from Russia and Belarus could not compete under their country names in recent Olympics. In 2020, they competed as "ROC" instead of Russia. In 2024, they were allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, but none took part in archery.

96	In the table headings, indicates the Games year, from 1896 to 2012
3	Number of archers participated in the specified Games
	Archery not competed in these years
	Host nation for the specified Games
	NOC did not compete in Games or was superseded or preceded by other NOC(s) during these years

Event	00	08	20	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	24	Years
Argentina								2									1	2
Australia		ANZ		3	4	3	2	3	3	5	6	6	5	2	4	4	2	14
Austria					1	1	1								1		1	5
Azerbaijan	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN						1		1	2
Bangladesh															1	1	2	1	4
Belarus	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	2	2	2	2	1	1	3	AIN^b	7
Belgium	18		14	3	2	2	5	3	1	1	1				1	1		12
Bhutan								6	3	6	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	11
Brazil							2	1	2	2				1	1	6	2	2	9
Bulgaria							2			1	1		1	1	1				6
Canada				6	4		3	4	3	3	1	2	4	2	2	2	2	13
Central African Republic												1							1
Chad																	1	1	2
Chile												1			1	1	1	1	5
China								6	6	6	6	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	11
Colombia								1		1				3	2	4	2	4	7
Costa Rica						2	2			1									3
Cuba											4	1	1	1	1		1	6
Cyprus										1				1					2
Czech Republic	Bohemia			Czechoslovakia										2			1	2	3
Czechoslovakia	Bohemia						3			1									2
Denmark				4	1			3	3		1	1	2	3		1	1	10
Dominican Republic																1			1
Ecuador																	1		1
Egypt												1	4	2	2	2	2	2	7
El Salvador												1	1					1	3
Estonia	Russian Empire				Soviet Union					1	1				1	1	1	1	6
Fiji													1		1	1			3
Finland					3	2	4	5	6	3	3	3	1	1		2	1	1	13
France	129	15	8	5	2		2	6	6	4	5	6	5	4	3	4	6	15
Georgia	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	1	3	2	2	1	3			6
Germany									6	3	4	4	2	2	2	4	4	9
West Germany	Germany				4	3		5	6	Germany									4
Great Britain		41		6	4	4	6	6	6	3	3	4	6	6	2	6	6	15
Greece											1	6	2	1	1			5
Guam										1									1
Guinea																		1	1
Hong Kong								6	3	1					1				4
Hungary				2		4			3	2								4
India									3	3	2		6	4	6	4	4	6	9
Indonesia					1	2		2	4	4	3	1	2	2	1	4	4	4	13
Iran														2	2	1	1	1	5
Iraq															1				1
Ireland						1	3	2	3	1	1								6
Israel																	1	2	2
Italy				3	4	3	3	3	4	6	6	4	6	6	6	4	4	14
Ivory Coast															1	1			2
Japan					4	4		5	6	6	5	5	6	5	6	4	6	4	13
Jordan									1										1
Kazakhstan	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	6	4	3	1	2	2	3	3	8
Kenya											2	1				1			3
Laos													1						1
Libya																1			1
Luxembourg					2		1	3	1	1			1		1		1	1	9
Malawi																1	1		2
Malaysia													1	3	4	3	2	3	6
Malta							2	1	1										3
Mauritius												1	1	1					3
Mexico					6			2	4	4	3	2	3	4	6	4	4	6	12
Moldova	Russian Empire			ROU	Soviet Union					EUN	1				1	1	2	2	5
Monaco								1	1										2
Mongolia					3	4	4		3	1	1				2	1	2	1	10
Morocco														1					1
Myanmar												1	1	1	1	1			5
Nepal																1			1
Netherlands	6		8			2	2	3	6	2	3	3		1	3	4	4	13
New Zealand			ANZ		1			3	1	1	1	2	1						7
North Korea						2	3			3		1		2	1	1			7
Norway				4	1		1		1	1	4			1	1			8
Philippines					3				2			1	1	1	2				6
Poland					4	4	3		3	6	4	5	4	6	2	1	2	1	13
Portugal								1	3	1	1	1		1					6
Puerto Rico					1	2		1	2		1							1	6
Qatar														1					1
Romania							4							1			2	1	4
Russia	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	6	4	5	5	3	3	ROC^a	AIN^b	6
ROC^a	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	Russia						4	AIN^b	1
Samoa														1	1				2
San Marino										1	1				1			1	4
Saudi Arabia								3	2										2
Slovakia	Hungary			Czechoslovakia												2	1	1	3
Slovenia	Austria / Hungary			Yugoslavia						1	3	1			1		1	2	6
Solomon Islands									1										1
South Africa									2	3	2	1	1	1			1	7
South Korea					3			6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	12
Soviet Union	Russian Empire				6	3	4		6	EUN									4
Unified Team	Russian Empire			URS	Soviet Union					6									1
Spain					2		2	4	4	4	1	1	2	1	2	4	2	2	13
Sweden				5	4	3	5	6	3	6	6	3	1	1	1	1		13
Switzerland				4		4	3	2					1	2				6
Chinese Taipei					1			2	6	3	6	3	6	6	6	6	6	6	12
Tajikistan	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN			1	1					2
Thailand						3		2							1	1			4
Tonga													1			2			2
Tunisia																	2	1	2
Turkey								2	6	6	4	6	4	2	1	2	2	4	11
Uganda												1							1
Ukraine	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN	6	6	6	5	6	4	3	2	8
United States		1		6	4		6	6	5	6	6	6	5	6	4	6	4	15
Uzbekistan	Russian Empire			Soviet Union						EUN								1	1
Vanuatu												1							1
Venezuela														1	2	2			3
Vietnam																	2	1	2
Virgin Islands																	1	1	2
Yugoslavia						1	1												2
Zimbabwe							1		4							1			3

No. of nations	3	3	3	27	24	25	35	41	44	41	46	43	49	55	56	49	53	104
No. of archers	153	57	30	95	64	67	109	146	135	125	128	128	128	128	128	128	128
Year	00	08	20	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	24	Years