World championships leave lasting legacy for Mexico City and archery

World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener presented a cheque for USD$57,000 to Mexico City Director of Sport Horacio de la Vega at the close of the 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships as a small contribution from the archery community towards the rebuilding of stricken areas of the city after the recent earthquakes.

The Arrows for Hope donation included contributions from World Archery, Hoyt, Easton, Global Sports Development, Longines, Hyundai, FILA, FFTA, Danage, Win&Win, DSB, FITArco and Krueger.

(Hyundai also made a contribution of USD$150,000 USD to the Mexican Red Cross.)

The 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships saw 373 athletes from 58 countries compete for world titles, with the event culminating in dramatic finals in the iconic Zocalo.

France’s Sebastien Peineau, Song Yun Soo and Im Dong Hyun of Korea, and Russian woman Ksenia Perova claimed world titles at a championships that saw 14 nations put athletes on the podium in the individual, mixed team or team events.

Korea’s recurve women won an historic 13th gold medal after contesting the final with a well-supported squad from Mexico.

It was the second time that the famous square in the centre of Mexico City had hosted a World Archery event, after the Archery World Cup Final in 2015, and for a second time the free spectator stands were packed from start to finish.

More than 50,000 people visited the Hyundai Archery Fan Park and finals venue, with 4,000-plus individuals making use of the archery experience and over 10,000 watched competition from the bleachers.

As well as three national broadcasters carrying over 20 hours of footage, international channels in 14 territories – including Korea, USA and Italy – showed the live signal. Highlights and news brought the total number of channels to nearly 200 worldwide.

Live footage was streamed on the Olympic Channel, Facebook and Youtube with additional behind-the-scenes content available on demand to archery fans. 

The championships reached over 6.4 million individuals on World Archery’s social media platforms, signalling an 85% growth in followers compared to the previous edition in 2015.

At the end of the 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships, World Archery’s Facebook page had nearly 250k likes, Twitter over 46k fans, Instagram over 53k followers, and nearly 100k subscribers on YouTube with over 44 million views.

World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener said: “The organisation, atmosphere and athletic performances of these world championships combined to create an incredible spectacle of sport. The iconic Zocalo proved itself a world-class venue for elite archery again, and our ever-growing presence on television and new media made this World Archery Championships the most followed to date.”

“It is our hope that the inspiration gained by those who attended and our small donation towards the rebuilding of a city that welcomed us so openly, so soon after dealing with disaster, marks these world championships as an example of the positive impact that international sport can have.”

Organising Committee President Horacio De La Vega said: “During these championships the people of Mexico City proved, once again, their passion for archery.”

“We are proud to have delivered another successful international archery event and look forward to the positive legacy this will leave for the sport both in Mexico and abroad.”

The next World Archery Championships are due to be held in conjunction with the World Archery Para Championships in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 2019.

The 2017 Hyundai World Archery Championships ran 15-22 October in Mexico City, Mexico.