German championships draws 1.5 million viewers on national television

Archery was part of a combined German national championships weekend that saw 10 sports hold finals in Berlin on 3-4 August 2019. 

Over 175,000 people watched the events in the various stadia – 87,000 of those in Olympic place where archery, triathlon and pentathlon took place – and the archery finals accumulated a total television audience of 1.5 million people from across Germany.

“The attendance and coverage were unbelievable. We had a record of 714 participants at the German championships, sold-out spectator stands and national television coverage live, delayed and on popular breakfast and midday shows,” said German shooting and archery federation secretary general Jorg Brokamp.

“There were standing ovations, dancing and singing in the stands. And, on average, archery achieved nearly 13% market share on television. Only athletics and swimming had better figures.”

Berlin has hosted a stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup next to its famous Olympic Stadium since 2017. These new combined German championships, held in the same area, proved a resounding success.

As well as achieving incredible reach among the public, the event was a hit with the athletes that competed. Olympic silver medallist Lisa Unruh shot a new German and European record of 683 points during qualification.

“Finally, the 680-score fell,” she said. “I have been trying for three years and finally, I have done it. I am really happy.” 

Elena Richter and Florian Kahllund went on to win the recurve national titles in front of a capacity, 2,800-strong crowd.

Any finals that weren’t held in the main arena were held on a secondary finals field set up on the same qualification and eliminations range used at the World Cup. The nationals covered senior and junior divisions for the recurve, compound and barebow categories. 

“Once again, we proved that archery belongs among the top sports and justifies both media coverage and financial support,” said Brokamp. “The format was the perfect promotion for our future events in Berlin.”

The German capital was recently awarded the rights to host the 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships, which will also act as the primary qualification tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Berlin will also host the final qualification tournament for next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo as part of the third stage of the Hyundai Archery World Cup in 2020.