Archery equipment

Strange but true, archery was never included in the first Greece Olympics. With the Olympics having a past record of 1000 years, it is highly likely that the event might have been included sometime in its history. Archery for men as an event started for the first time in the Olympics held in 1900 and for women it began in 1904.

Those early of Olympics there was no consistency in the rules and archery was dropped as an event after 1920. It took many years before all countries accepted the international rules for competition, but archery was able to return as an Olympic sport to the 1972 Munich Games. The event included team as well as individual participation from 1988.

Archery Arrow

The format of the game, since 1992, includes head-to-head competition amongst the top 64 aspirants. Individual for men, individual for women, team for men and team for women are the four events in archery. The men and women, in the individual events get an opportunity to throw 72 arrows at the bull's eye from a distance of 70 meters which is 229 feel and 8 inches. The time gap between two shots is 40 seconds and the perfect score is 720 with an overtime shot called 'sudden death' which is allowed in case there is a tie.

Archery Terms

The team events comprise of 3 archers making a team and there are 16 such teams where each archer has to shoot 72 arrows and the distance covered is 70 meters like the individual events. When there is a tie, what happens is that each archer throws an arrow and whoever can aim close to the center is the winner. The target carries 10 rings where if the outer circle is hit the archer is allotted 1 point, 2 points for the next ring and so on with the center carrying 10 points.

The recurve bow which is used during archery events help at Olympics makes the arrow travel at a speed of 150 mph. These extraordinary bows are made from wood, fiberglass and graphite which helps in the arrow to travel in a straight line and this stabilizing effect helps for a perfect aim. The strings are made from a hydrocarbon product or from Kevlar and the arrows from aluminum or carbon graphite, with the cost of this equipment topping ,000.

Participants for the Olympics archery events usually undergo training for about ten years. Every player has to be in superb form during participation. A good coach is also very important - proper equipment, of course, is also needed. Archery by any standards is less pricey than other sports and that is good news. To develop expertise, you should read, learn and discuss things with other archers and then compete in local and national events but most importantly continue to practice rigorously.

Athletes with disabilities can also indulge in archery as a sport. A New Zealand woman, Neroli Fairhall, was the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympic Games and was a gold medalist in the Commonwealth Games. This game is such that you can enjoy it with all the members of your family and if you so desire, can go on playing it for the rest of your life.