Olympic archers: Retain or reselect after delay of Tokyo 2020?

This article is being updated as new information becomes available. The latest update was made on 5 June 2020.

The delay of Tokyo 2020 until the summer of 2021 has resulted in changes to the qualification procedure for the Olympic Games. Many international tournaments have been cancelled, with plans to reschedule the qualifiers next spring, and deadlines in the entry process have moved.

One thing has remained very clear, however.

The 87 quota places already awarded for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are retained by the National Olympic Committees whose archers won them.

It also remains the prerogative of the nations to decide who fills each place.

This has resulted in some difficult situations. Some countries had completed or were part of the way through their trials for Tokyo – and several archers had already been named to their respective Olympic teams.

Should these archers remain selected? Should new trials be held, ensuring that the best athletes at the time attend the Olympics? Should selections that were in progress be resumed or restarted?

There’s no simple answer. And the decision made by each country will, more often than not, be based on how the team would have originally been selected.

Some countries automatically pick the athletes that qualified the places. Others hold specific selections for the Games while many choose squads for each season, with those archers attending whichever events are calendared, whether there’s an Olympics or not.

The delay of the Olympic Games is a first for sport. We’ll try to round-up the latest selection situation, country by country, for those nations that had already secured quota places.

Tokyo 2020 Athlete selection

This list is for information only and not considered official.

 Australia: 3 (3 men) – Dave Barnes, Ryan Tyack and Taylor Worth were named to the team at the conclusion of trials and these athletes will remain selected.

 Bangladesh: 1 (1 man) – The trials process had not begun. It will start at a later date.

 Belarus: 3 (3 women) – The selection process was based on results at selected events but had not begun. The current situation is unclear.

 Bhutan: 1 (1 woman) – Karma qualified Bhutan’s first Olympic place at the 2019 Asian Championships. It is intended that she will fill the place if she achieves the minimum qualification standard.

 Brazil: 1 (1 man) – The trials process had not begun. It will start at a later date.

 Canada: 1 (1 man) – The current situation is unclear.

 Chad: 1 (1 man) – The current situation is unclear.

 China: 6 (3 men, 3 women) – The trials process had begun. The current situation is unclear.

 Chinese Taipei: 6 (3 men, 3 women) – Lei Chien-Ying was initially named to the team as the winner of the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships. Tang Chih-Chun, Wei Chun-Heng, Deng Yu-Cheng, Lin Chia-En and Tan Ya-Ting were named to the remaining spots on the team at the conclusion of trials. The current situation is unclear.

 Colombia: 1 (1 woman) – The selection process was based on results at selected events and was not complete. It is expected that new selection events will be chosen.

 Cote d’Ivoire: 1 (1 woman) – The archer will be named following the last qualification event.

 Denmark: 1 (1 woman) – Maja Jager was the first archer to be officially named to a team for the Games, on 8 October, after she qualified Denmark a place at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships. It is intended that she will remain selected.

 DPR Korea: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The current situation is unclear.

 Egypt: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The current situation is unclear.

 Germany: 3 (3 women) – The trials process had not begun. It will start at a later date.

 Great Britain: 6 (3 men, 3 women) – Naomi Folkard, Sarah Bettles and Bryony Pitman will be selected to fill the women’s places, as they are the only three who fulfilled the country’s selection criteria. Four eligible men will compete in a selection tournament, which was postponed from March, at a later date.

 India: 4 (3 men, 1 woman) – The trials process had begun but was not complete. It is expected that the archers still in the process will remain and be joined by a handful of additional athletes for a rescheduled latter portion of the trials.

 Indonesia: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – Riau Ega Agatha and Diananda Choirunisa were named to the team after qualifying the places and it is intended that they will remain selected.

 Iran: 1 (1 man) – The current situation is unclear.

 Italy: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – Trials were postponed. The current situation is unclear.

 Japan: 6 (3 men, 3 women) – Trials had reached last stage. It is expected that the process will resume retaining the previous results.

 Kazakhstan: 3 (3 men) – Ilfat Abdullin, Denis Gankin and Sanzhar Mussayev were named to the team after qualifying the places and it is intended that they will remain selected.

 Korea: 6 (3 men, 3 women) – Annual trials were in process. It is expected that the trials process will begin again.

 Malaysia: 1 (1 man) – The trials process had begun but was not complete. It is expected that the process will resume retaining the previous results.

 Mexico: 1 (1 woman) – Alejandra Valencia was named to the team at the conclusion of trials. The squads that would compete for additional spots were also named. The current situation is unclear.

 Moldova: 1 (1 woman) – An archer had already been named and it is intended that she will remain selected.

 Mongolia: 1 (1 man) – The current situation is unclear.

 Netherlands: 4 (3 men, 1 woman) – Some members of the team had been named. The selection process will begin again.

 New Zealand: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The current situation is unclear.

 Russia: 3 (3 women) – The trials process had begun but was not complete. It is expected that the process will resume retaining the previous results.

 Spain: 1 (1 man) – Miguel Alvarino Garcia was named to the team at the conclusion of trials. The squads that would compete for additional spots were also named. Spain notified athletes on 27 April 2020 that new trials would be held.

 Sweden: 1 (1 woman) – Team officials select the athletes. No archer had been named.

 Tunisia: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The selection process was based on results at selected events but had not begun. It will start at a later date.
 
 Ukraine: 3 (3 women) – The trials process had begun but was not complete. The current situation is unclear.

 USA: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The trials process had begun but was not complete. It is expected that the process will resume retaining the previous results.

 Vietnam: 2 (1 man, 1 woman) – The archers had already been named and it is intended that they will remain selected.

National teams can update the information provided on this page by contacting the World Archery office.