May 09, 2023

Olympic Games Athlete Selection Procedures announced by USA Archery

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - We are less than 500 days away from the start of the archery competition at the 2024 Olympic Games, and USA Archery has unveiled its path to Paris.

Who competes in France as part of Team USA will be determined at the conclusion of the 2024 Olympic Games U.S. Team Trials, which begin with the 139th USA Archery Target Nationals in Malvern, PA between August 30-September 2, and conclude in May 2024 per the 2024 Olympic Games U.S. Team trials schedule.

The newly released 2024 Olympic Games Athlete Selection Procedures explain in detail the rounds that will be competed in stage of the U.S. Team trials and how cumulative ranking points will be awarded. USA Archery has also announced its 2024 Olympic Games Staff Selection Procedures.

"USA Archery is excited to announce the schedule for the 2024 Olympic Games U.S. Team Trials," said Chief of Sport Performance & Operations, Mary Emmons. "The Stage 1 event is an open tryout for anyone looking to vie for a spot on the U.S. team and will feature the nation's top archery talent and is a great opportunity for fans to cheer on their favorite athletes, as they compete for coveted spots on the 2024 Olympic Archery Team."

While the U.S. Team Trials athlete selection process determine who will compete for Team USA, USA must also earn quota slots for the 2024 Olympic Games. The first qualification tournament will be held at the 2023 World Archery Championships in Berlin, Germany this July, followed by the 2023 Pan American Games in November, which is a Continental Qualification event.

The Final Qualification Tournament will be held with World Cup 3 in June 2024, after which any final remaining quota slots will be allocated based on team world rankings.

The archery venue for next year's Olympic Games is Invalides, a stunning green space by the banks of the River Seine. Archery historically begins on the morning of the Opening Ceremony but will instead start a day before, on July 25 due to Invalides' proximity to the Seine, on which the Opening Ceremony will take place. The Olympic Games-Archery will involve 128 competitors, with an equal split of 64 men and 64 women, and finishes on August 4, a week before the Olympic Flame is extinguished.

History of archery at the Olympic Games

• It was in fact the Paris Games of 1900, the second-ever Olympiad, that archery first featured at the Summer Games. Only three nations competed (France, Belgium, and the Netherlands), though an estimated 1,400 archers were involved, all men! The USA hosted the 1904 Games, in St. Louis, before London welcomed athletes four years later.
• Archery did not feature in Stockholm in 1912, while World War One prevented Berlin from hosting in 1916. Archery reappeared at the 1920 edition, which was held in the Belgian city of Antwerp. This would be the last time archery was included at the Summer Olympics until Munich in 1972, since when it has been ever-present.
• Team events were added to archery's Olympic program for Seoul in 1988. Prior to this, only individual medals were on offer. A mixed team category came into play last time around in Tokyo. So, in all, five gold medals will be contested in Paris.

Fun facts about archery at the Olympic Games

• Only one archer has won individual Olympic gold on more than one occasion. Darrell Pace, from Ohio, claimed gold medals in Montreal (1976) and Los Angeles (1984).
• The USA has the oldest and youngest medal winners in Olympic archery history. Samuel Duvall was 68 when he was part of the team to win silver in 1904. Denise Parker was just 14 years and 294 days when winning team bronze in 1988.

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