Australia’s archers were the first green and gold athletes to arrive at the village for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with a team of four descending on the host city after completing their preparations in Europe.
Overview
Competition at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field commences with the men’s and women’s individual ranking rounds on the same day as the Opening Ceremony, before eight days of individual, mixed and team competition.
Archery was added to the Olympic program in 1900, and was contested in 1904, 1908 and 1920 before a 52-year absence. It returned as a sport at Munich 1972, with Simon Fairweather winning Australia’s first medal, a gold in the individual men’s event, at Sydney 2000.
Archery Team
Ones to Watch
Taylor Worth and Ryan Tyack have a second Olympic medal in their sights after winning bronze in the men’s team competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The Format
- Archers shoot their arrows from 70 metres at targets that are 122 centimetres in diameter.
- Points are scored by hitting the five coloured rings on the target, with arrows closer to the centre delivering a higher score. A bullseye counts for 10 points.
- Archers compete in head-to-head matches after being ranked from one to 64. Each archer uses 18 arrows in the early rounds, before this is reduced to 12 from the quarter finals (eight athletes).
- Australia will compete in the men’s individual, the women’s individual and the men’s team competitions at Tokyo 2020.
What’s the Story?
Taylor Worth and Ryan Tyack return to the archery field having won bronze in the men’s team competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Alice Ingley returns for the women’s individual competition after debuting at Rio 2016 where she overcame illness to compete before being knocked out in the second round.
Dave Barnes returns to the Olympic arena for the first time since Athens 2004, where he debuted as an 18-year-old.
The Republic of Korea has won the women’s team gold medal at every Olympic Games since Seoul 1988 – can they do it again?
The Facts
- Competition spans eight days from 24 July – 31 July, with men’s and women’s individual ranking rounds held on the same day as the Opening Ceremony.
- Archers will compete at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field.
- Australia has competed in archery at every Olympic Games since its return to the programme of sports in 1972.
- The Republic of Korea won all four gold medals at Rio 2016, with Ki Bo Bae their star athlete having won team and individual gold at London 2012 and team gold and individual bronze at Rio 2016.
