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Beginners guide to archery at the Paralympics

8 September 2016

Rio de Janeiro (BRA)

Real name:

Para archery has been integral to the Paralympic Movement since its beginnings, when the sport was used as a rehabilitation tool for injured veterans at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

It has been present on the programme of every Paralympic Games since the event began in Rome in 1960.

Factsheet: Rio 2016 Para Archery

Venue: Sambodromo
Dates: 10-17 September
Number of athletes: 137
Number of medals: 9 (Men’s, women’s and mixed team competitions in recurve open, compound open and W1 divisions)

Defending Champions

Since the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the classification classes have been changed. (The alteration came into affect on 1 April 2014.)

Three Rio 2016 Paralympians won competitions in London:

Three facts

1) Matt Stutzman is one of the athletes to watch at the Paralympic Games. A successful compound archer, Matt was born with no arms – making witnessing him shoot out the middle, holding his bow with his foot, incredibly impressive.

2) Mixed team events make their Paralympic debut at Rio 2016, replacing three-athlete team competitions included at prior Games. Mixed teams are made up of one man and one woman from the same nation, shooting in the same division.

3) Zahra Nemati, a London 2012 Paralympic Champion, shot at the Olympic Games in Rio – and has returned for the Paralympics. She’s competed on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in recent years, rather than at para archery events, so isn’t world-ranked highly – but won the Asian Para Championships in late 2015.

Schedule

10 September: Ranking round

11 September: Recurve open mixed team eliminations and finals

12 September: Compound open mixed team eliminations and finals

13 September: Recurve men open eliminations and finals

14 September: Compound men open eliminations and finals

15 September: Recurve women open eliminations and finals

16 September: Compound women open and W1 men eliminations and finals

17 September: W1 women and W1 mixed team eliminations and finals

Classification classes

Compound open: Like recurve open athletes, compound open athletes have impairment in either the top or bottom halves of their body, as a rule. They compete from a wheelchair, stool or standing using a standard compound bow, which conforms to World Archery rules.

Recurve open: As a rule, recurve open athletes have impairment in either the top or bottom halves of their body. They compete from a wheelchair, stool or standing using a standard recurve bow, which conforms to World Archery rules.

W1: Athletes have impairment in both the top and bottom of their bodies, compete while seated in a wheelchair, and may shoot with either recurve or compound bows – with slightly modified rules.

Athletes using recurve bows may also use mechanical release aids, while all bows are limited to 45lb in peak draw weight and may not have peep sights, magnifying scopes or levelling bubbles.

How it works

Recurve open athletes compete to the same rules as recurve athletes at the Olympic Games. They shoot at 122cm targets set 70 metres away, with 10 scoring zones. Competition starts with a 72-arrow ranking round, used to rank athletes, and is followed by knock-out elimination matches resolved using the set system.

Athletes shoot sets of three arrows – and the highest-scoring athlete in the set receives two set points. The first athlete to six set points wins the match. (Mixed teams shoot sets of four arrows, two per athlete, and the first mixed team to five set points wins the match.)

Compound open and W1 athletes shoot at 80cm targets set 50 metres away, with 10 scoring zones (the outer four are removed for compound open competitors). Competition starts with a 72-arrow ranking round, used to rank athletes, and is followed by knock-out elimination matches resolved using cumulative score.

Athletes shoot 15 arrows, in five ends of three arrows, and the highest-scoring athlete wins the match. (Mixed team shoot 16 arrows, in four ends of four arrows, two per athlete per end.)