Future World Archery Masters Championships to integrate with World Masters Games

World Archery and the International Masters Games Association have agreed to integrate every second edition of the World Archery Masters Championships into the World Masters Games, an international multisport event for mature athletes held every four years. 

• Long-term partnership to integrate championships with World Masters Games
• Championships held every two years, every second as part of Games
• Agreement will strengthen masters community within archery 

The World Archery Masters Championships will be hosted for the first time in August 2018 at the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. With one month left before the final registration deadline, entries numbered over 360 athletes.  

The next World Archery Masters Championships will join the World Masters Games in Kansai, Japan in 2021. Subsequently, the championships is planned to be held as part of and then in the immediate year after each World Masters Games.

The World Masters Games were first held in Toronto, Canada in 1985 and have been staged nearly every four years since. 

Most recently, the city of Auckland in New Zealand attracted more than 28,500 athletes from 100 countries to compete in a 28-sport programme, which included outdoor target, indoor target and field archery.

World Archery Secretary General Tom Dielen said: “Archery has a thriving community of people aged 40 and above who enjoy the sport recreationally and also have the drive to compete. Having attended World Masters Games myself, I can be certain when I say that the experience is excellent.”

“This agreement with the International Masters Games Association allows us to build on a promising start for international masters tournaments within archery as we strive to make it a sport available to all.”

International Masters Games Association CEO Jens V Holm said: “This agreement will not only strengthen our partnership but also help the development of masters archery on a global level – it is all very exciting.”

The first World Archery Masters Championships will take place on 14-18 August 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland.