The first-ever Olympic medal for compound archers will be awarded at the 2028 Olympic Games, following the International Olympic Committee’s announcement today that the compound mixed team event will be added to the archery programme in Los Angeles.
It marks an historic milestone for the sport and the global compound archery community.
The compound mixed team competition joins the existing five recurve events – men’s and women’s individual, men’s and women’s team, and mixed team – on the programme, bringing the total number of archery medals available to six.
It is the first time since archery’s reintroduction to the Olympic Games in 1972 that a new bowstyle is added to the competition.
World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener, who was recently presented with the Olympic Order for exceptional service to international sport, cited archery’s growing popularity and successful Games in Paris as fundamental to the decision.
“This is a monumental step forward for the sport and for the millions of compound archers worldwide who have long sought Olympic recognition,” he said.
“My profound gratitude goes to the International Olympic Committee, not least IOC President Thomas Bach for his great interest in this important project, and the LA28 Organising Committee for their support throughout the process.”
“I am deeply proud of the work of the whole archery community, and our athletes, who have helped make this a reality, and I am so excited to witness what our first Olympic compound archers will achieve in Los Angeles.”
Archery was reintroduced to the Olympic programme in 1972 with recurve men’s and women’s individual events. Team competitions were included in 1988 and a fifth archery medal, the recurve mixed team, made its debut at Tokyo 2020.
The addition of the mixed team format for compound ensures archery maintains its equal gender split and athlete quota in LA.
Compound is a modern style of bow, invented in the USA, that uses cams and pulleys to efficiently power an arrow downrange. It has benefited from decades of investment in high-performance and universal development following its first appearance at the World Archery Championships in 1995.
The bowstyle has featured at the World Games since 2013, and at recent continental multisport events in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.
“Since the launch of the Archery World Cup in 2006, recurve and compound have been treated as equals in participation, promotion and prize money,” said World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen.
“The exceptional work of our continental federations in adding compound events to multisport Games, and our athletes in promoting the bowstyle, have demonstrated why compound is a valuable addition to the Olympic programme.”
“It is also an incredible legacy for our President, who comes to the end of his term later this year and has worked tirelessly to add now two archery medals to the Olympic programme.”
Further details on the competition format, athlete numbers, qualification schedule and event schedule for LA28 will be announced in due course.
