Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer, bowman, or toxophilite.
In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs. The compound bow was first developed in 1966 by Holless Wilbur Allen in North Kansas City, Missouri, and a US patent was granted in 1969. Compound bows are widely used in target practice and hunting.
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was common to many prehistoric cultures. They were important weapons of war from ancient history until the early modern period, where they were rendered increasingly obsolete by the development of the more powerful and accurate firearms. Today, bows and arrows are mostly used for hunting and sports.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, seven of the archery events that took place in Paris, France, are considered to be "Olympic" by Olympic historians, with 153 archers competing. The identities of 17 of those archers are known, though a number of those are known only by their surnames.
Archery had its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been contested in 18 Olympiads. 105 nations have competed in the Olympic archery events, with France appearing the most often at 15 times. The most noticeable trend has been the excellence of South Korean archers, who have won 32 out of 44 gold medals in archery events since 1984. Olympic archery is governed by the World Archery Federation. Recurve archery is the only discipline of archery featured at the Olympic Games. Archery is also an event at the Summer Paralympics.
The Mongol bow is a type of recurved composite bow historically used in Mongolia, and by the horse archers of the Mongol Empire. "Mongol bow" can refer to two types of bow. From the 17th century onward, most of the traditional bows in Mongolia were replaced with the similar Manchu bow which is primarily distinguished by larger siyahs and the presence of prominent string bridges.
A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow and are circular or D-shaped in cross section. Flatbows can be just as long, but in cross-section, a flatbow has limbs that are approximately rectangular.
Archery, or the use of bow and arrows, was probably developed in Africa by the later Middle Stone Age. It is documented as part of warfare and hunting from the classical period until the end of the 19th century, when bow and arrows was made functionally obsolete by the invention and spread of repeating firearms.
Bhutan sent a delegation to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from 8–24 August 2008. This was Bhutan's seventh time participating in a Summer Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of two archers, Tashi Peljor and Dorji Dema. Neither was able to win their first round match.
Mounted archery is a form of archery that involves shooting arrows while on horseback. A horse archer is a person who does mounted archery. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, mounted archery was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of the Eurasian nomads during antiquity and the medieval period, as well as the Iranian peoples such as the Alans, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Massagetae, Parthians, and Persians in Antiquity, and by the Hungarians, Mongols, Chinese, and Turkic peoples during the Middle Ages. The expansion of these cultures have had a great influence on other geographical regions including Eastern Europe, West Asia, and East Asia. In East Asia, horse archery came to be particularly honored in the samurai tradition of Japan, where horse archery is called Yabusame.
The Archery World Cup is a competition organized by World Archery, where the archers compete in four stages in four countries and the best eight archers of each category advance to an additional stage to contest the Archery World Cup Final. Started in 2006, this form of competition was introduced following the success of the 2003 World Archery Championships in New York and the 2004 Summer Olympics with the intent of making the sport more popular and attractive to spectators, with the matches being held in 'spectacular' locations and the final matches being broadcast online. It has received plaudits for its innovative approach to the sport, raising its profile and reach.
Deepika Kumari is an Indian professional archer. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the women's individual recurve event. She also won a gold there in the women's team recurve event with Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi. She won individual gold in two of the three stages of the World Cup—one in Guatemala and another in Paris. In the process she also reclaimed the number one ranking after nine years at the Paris World Cup. Deepika won individual gold medals at the Archery World Cup Stage 1. She defeated Mexico by 5–1 in the final to win the gold in Paris.
The archery events at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were held over a seven-day period from 6 to 12 August. Four events took place, all were staged at the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí.
The archery events at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place in Yumenoshima Park. Five events were planned with a mixed team event staged for the first time.
The 2015 World Archery Championships was the 48th edition of the event. It was held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 26 July to 2 August 2015 and was organised by World Archery Federation. Qualification and elimination rounds took place at the Sundby Idrætspark, with the medal matches on 1–2 August outside the Danish Parliament building Christiansborg Palace. The competition was preceded by the World Archery Congress on 24–25 July.
The women's team archery event was one of 4 archery events at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Mete Gazoz is a Turkish recurve archer. He won the gold medal in the men's individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He also represented Turkey at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Mete Gazoz emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious Individual title. In an intense final, he triumphed over the skilled Canadian archer Eric Peters, securing his place as the first Turkish archer to achieve the esteemed recurve gold medal in a World Championship.
The European Para-Archery Championships is a competition for European disabled archers.
The mixed team recurve archery competition at the 2018 Asian Games was held from 21 to 27 August at Gelora Bung Karno Archery Field.
