What do Cupid, Robin Hood and Legolas have in common?

Legolas, from the movie Lord of the Rings, in action

All of them are (fictional) legendary archers! 

Archery has been dated back to the Stone Age when our prehistoric, grunting ancestor one day fashioned the basic bow and arrow and ran off to hunt down his dinner. It was also seen through the medieval ages when Robin Hood performed a feat of shooting an arrow through another arrow by hitting it dead centre. Til today, such a feat is known as a “Robin Hood”.

Robin Hood Arrow (when one arrow is embedded in another) Credit: Lionsgate, Flickr

Archery was also used through the ages as a weapon by countries such as Egypt, England, India, Korea, China and Japan, up until firearms made the use the bow and arrow obsolete. Today, archery is a sport practiced globally and one of the 33 sports in the Olympic Games.

Archery first became an Olympic Sport in 1900, but was dropped from the list in 1920 due to no uniform international rules. Once standardised rules were put in place, archery made a come back in the 1972 Munich Games.

Archer (Simon Fairweather of Australia) in action during the Men's Individual Archery held at the Sydney International Archery Park during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia. Credit: Getty Images, Hamish Blair

In archery, there are four main events- the men’s individual event and the team event and women’s individual event and the team event.

The sport is played by shooting a target 70 metres away from the shooting line. The target consists of 10 concentric rings beginning with two gold rings in the centre, surrounded by two red rings, then two blue rings, two black rings and finally 2 white rings. The centre ring is known as the “bullseye” and is 12.2 centimetres wide. Each ring carries a different number of points, ascending from one point for the outer ring to 10 points for the bullseye.

If an arrow lands on the line between two rings, the higher score is taken. Arrows that pass through or do not stick to the target are counted as well.

In individual competitions, 64 archers are first ranked from one to 64 during the qualifications. They then proceed to compete in head-to-head elimination rounds by firing 18 arrows in six rounds, three arrows per round. In the semi-final and final rounds archers shoot 12 arrows, three rounds in four rounds.

Kim Soo-Nyung in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, women’s individual competition. Credit: Getty Images, Dadswell Mark

One of archery’s most famous athletes is Kim Soo-Nyung from Korea. Kim Soo-Nyung was only 17 years old when she clinched two gold medals in both the individual and team archery events at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She went on to achieve a silver medal for the individual event and another gold for the team event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Kim Soo-Nyung retired at the age of 21 and got married and raised two children over the next seven years. In 1999, she resumed her training and bagged the gold medal for the team event and a bronze for the individual event at the Sydney Games in 2000. To add to this, she won four Gold medals in the World Championships and a bronze in the Asian Games.

Any archer would tell you that archery is no easy task. One would need a sharp eye, steady hands, a calm mind and nerves of steel. However, if you are interested and think you have what it takes, why not take up the bow and give it a shot.

For more information on Olympic Archery.

10 Fun Facts on Archery!

In 1904, archery was one of the first Olympic sports to include women.

Olympic archers use the recurve bow, which has limbs that curve away from archer to increase power.

The word “Bullseye” was used to describe pretty much anything small and round began in the 17th century including a target. However nobody knows for sure why a bull and not a chicken, cow, or sheep.

From where the archers stand at the shooting line, the bullseye looks about the same size as the head of a thumbtack held at arm's length.

Arrows made of aluminium and carbon can travel at speeds of more than 240 km/h!

When an arrow becomes embedded in another arrow, it is called a “Robin Hood”, after the fictional character who split an arrow by hitting it head on with another arrow he fired.

South Korea has the most number of Olympic Gold Medals for the sport.

Lee Chang Hwan from Korea holds the Olympic record for the men’s individual event (12 arrows match), with a score of 117 points.

Park Sung-Hyun from Korea holds the Olympic record for the women’s individual event (12 arrows match), with a score of 115 points.

During the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010, the archery events will be held at the Kallang Field.

Latest Comments

May I know who are the accomplished Archer in SG?
	From tzulong , on Tue 27 Apr 10:40 AM

Why is it that we are only talking about archery in other countries? We do have a handful of very accomplished archers in Singapore. Let's take some time to look at who they are.
	From theminoritydude , on Fri 5 Mar 12:07 AM

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