Beginners’ guide to the qualification process for the Birmingham 2021 World Games
There will be two archery disciplines represented at the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, USA. Recurve and barebow archers will compete in field archery; compound archers will have a target archery event.
Places are limited. Only 100 archers in total can compete.
A qualification process that starts in the summer of 2020 and ends at the start of April 2021 will allocate quotas to national federations, who will then be able to enter athletes to the multisport event.
Here’s a simpler explanation of how the places can be won.
How many archers?
- 100 quota places in total
- 48 for field archery
- 24 recurve
- 24 barebow
- 52 compound places for target archery
Place assignment
The archer that wins a place in competition will not necessarily be the archer that attends the World Games. Quotas are assigned to a national federation, which must accept each spot and subsequently nominate the archer that fills it.
Field archery
Qualification for the field archery events at the 2021 World Games will be decided in its entirety at the 2020 World Archery Field Championships, which are also being held in the USA, in Yankton.
The 48 quota places are split equally over the four competition categories:
- 12 recurve men
- 12 recurve women
- 12 barebow men
- 12 barebow women
Each country can win a maximum of one place in each category except for the quota places awarded to the host country and to the nation of the world champion, which are exempt from the quota maximum.
Quotas
- 1 place for the host country (quota maximum exempt).
- 1 place for the world champion (quota maximum exempt).
- 10 places on the final ranking list from the world championships.
Any places needing to be reallocated will be awarded according to the final ranking list from the world championships.
Calendar
September 2020 – World Archery Field Championships
The final ranking list at the Yankton 2020 World Archery Field Championships decides the quota places for the World Games.
The USA has its host spot reserved. It could, theoretically, win an additional two places if the world champion is from the USA and another archer from the team places within the top 10 places at the championships.
Until 31 May 2021 – Entry period
Any place refused by a national federation is reallocated according to the results list from the championships until all places are filled.
The deadline for final entries is 31 May 2021.
Target archery
Qualification for the target archery events at the 2021 World Games will be primarily decided on the world ranking list and continental qualification tournaments, with two spots reserved specifically for para athletes.
The 52 quota places are split equally over the two competition categories:
- 26 compound men
- 26 compound women
Each country can win a maximum of two places in each category except for the quota place awarded to the para athletes, which are exempt from the quota maximum.
Any country that qualifies at least one compound man and one compound woman will also qualify to compete in the compound mixed team event.
Quotas
- 1 place for the host country.
- 1 place for a para athlete from the host country.
- 10 places awarded on the world ranking list as of 31 December 2020.
- 13 places awarded at continental qualification tournaments (limited to top eight places in the final rankings).
- 3 at American, Asian and European qualification tournaments.
- 2 at African and Oceanian qualification tournaments.
- 1 place for compound open champion at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Any places needing to be reallocated will be awarded according to the world ranking list as of 31 December 2020.
Calendar
September 2020 – Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
The winners of the compound women’s open and compound men’s open events at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will qualify the first places for the 2021 World Games. If a winner is from the USA then the next eligible country in the final ranking will receive the place.
End 2020 – Host country spots
The USA automatically receives two places in each compound category – one for an able-bodied and one for a para archer – at the Games. They can win a maximum of one more, either in the world ranking list or at the Americas continental qualifying event.
End 2020 – World ranking list
Ten places will be awarded according to the compound men’s and compound women’s world ranking lists at the end of 2020. If any country reaches the maximum of two quotas (or three, in the case of the USA), then the place will go to the next eligible country according to the list.
Before 1 April 2021 – Continental qualification tournaments
Qualification tournaments will take place in all five continents.
Three places are awarded on the final results list at the American, Asian and European continental qualification tournaments; two places are awarded at the African and Oceanian continental qualification tournaments.
Places are only allocated to athletes that finish in the top eight. Any places unable to be allocated are reallocated according to the world ranking list as of 31 December 2020 independent of the continent.
The continental qualification tournaments are as follows:
- Africa: to be confirmed
- Americas: World ranking event – Medellin, Colombia – 1-7 June 2020
- Asia: to be confirmed
- Europe: European Championships – Antalya, Turkey – 18-24 May 2020
- Oceania: to be confirmed
Until 31 May 2021 – Final entries
Any place refused by a national federation is reallocated according to the world ranking list as of 31 December 2020 until all places are filled.
The deadline for final entries is 31 May 2021.
Archery at the World Games
Archery was introduced to the World Games in 1985. The programme consisted of field archery competitions for recurve and barebow archers until 1989. In 1993, compound was added.
The compound event was changed into a target archery competition in 2013 when the Games were held in Cali, Colombia. This remains the current format.
Sara Lopez, Stephan Hansen and the mixed team from Denmark won the compound events at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw; Amedeo Tonelli, Lisa Unruh, Istvan Kakas and Cinzia Noziglia were the field champions.
The 2021 World Games will take place on 15-25 July in Birmingham, USA.
