Events update: No internationals before September, national recognition resumes in July

World Archery’s executive board has extended the hiatus on all international competition until 31 August 2020. The measure was introduced in March and subsequently extended due to the ongoing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19.

However, recognition of national events will resume on 1 July.

This means that, if held to appropriate local health standards, competitions after this date could be used to claim world records and performance awards, and shoot minimum qualification scores for major events.

The world rankings will remain frozen.

At this stage, no international events are confirmed for the rest of 2020. A draft calendar for the last few months of the year has been scheduled in the hope restrictions are lifted and the situation is safe for archers to return to the competition field.

No new event will be announced with less than two months notice.

The executive board, which met via conference call on 30 April, also approved an updated qualification calendar for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, implementing the modified system issued by the International Olympic Committee. This was necessary due to the delay of the Games until 2021 and cancellation of multiple qualifying tournaments.

No further Olympic qualification events will take place in 2020. They will be scheduled in 2021.

During the meeting, the board approved new versions of the budget, taking into account uncertainty in operations for the remainder of the year, and confirmed that World Archery Congress in 2021 will be held alongside the World Archery Championships in Yankton.

World Archery has launched several new projects during this period.

The first remote international archery tournament, the Lockdown Knockout, starts for compound archers on 1 May with live streaming from 9 May. Four day-long summer summits for archers, coaches, judges and tournament organisers have also been announced.

World Archery president Prof Dr Ugur Erdener said: “These challenging times call for innovative thinking as we create new ways to engage and inspire our community. Our focus remains on supporting efforts to beat this pandemic while, as a sport, we prepare for what comes next.”