Top 5: Best photos from the 2022 European Championships

The 2022 European Championships saw changeable weather, used two iconic venues – the Olympic shooting range for the early phases and the Theresienwiese, venue of Munich’s famous Oktoberfest, for the finals – and saw new continental champions crowned, among them .

Eckhard Frerichs provided images from the early stages, Rocconaut produced drone pictures and World Archery’s official photographer, Dean Alberga, was on site for the finals. As usual, he’s picked out his favourite five images from the tournament.

See more photos from the event on the Munich 2022 European Championships event page on the World Archery website.

1) First and foremost, a mother

A mother and daughter representing their country – Greece – during the same event. I don’t think we see this often. Six-time Olympian Evangelia Psarra is here making sure her daughter, Maria Nasoula, is dressed properly for her next match with photographer Eckhard Frerichs capturing the moment perfectly.

(Earlier this year, Evangelia discussed the possibility of her daughter, instead of her, qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.)

2) Swiss result

Defeating, on paper, much stronger teams, the Swiss recurve men’s team left Bavaria with a bronze medal in the bag. Although all talented archers in their own right, Keziah Chabin, Florian Faber and Thomas Rufer taking third place was probably the biggest surprise for many in Munich.

It’s only the second medal in history for Switzerland at this event. The first was also won by a recurve men’s team – all the way back in 1972.

3) Feet first

Feeling comfortable is important for any athlete when they are performing. Archery starts from the base – the feet – and footwear is a key consideration. These shoes… sandals… or whatever they are, worn by Mauro Nespoli, would not be my first choice but they seem to go well on him. His Italian recurve men’s squad shot an impressive final to win the European title.

4) Art, history and archery

Iconic venues, especially finals arenas, are an important part of the representation of our sport around the world – offering an exciting link for those discovering archery and memorable images for fans. Using landmarks for the finals also makes a huge difference for photos and to live broadcasts.

In Munich, we were hosted at the Theresienwiese, home of the world-famous Oktoberfest, under the watchful eye of the Bavaria statue.

It almost looks like she might be watching on as a judge…

Okay, maybe not.

5) Fair Play

Although the Turkish compound mixed team had already won their bronze medal match, Belgium still had one last arrow to shoot – although it couldn’t change the outcome.

Yesim Bostan and Emircan Haney showed the Belgian duo the respect they deserved by standing and waiting with their cheers and celebrations, letting their opponents finish the match without disturbance.

This, as always in this sport, was a show of true respect and sportsmanship.