Archery Competition Formats

FITA recognizes several disciplines of archery, each of which requires different distances, rules, and equipment. This section explains two forms of outdoor competition:

Outdoor target archery in any competition is shot on a flat, open field. Lines are clearly demarcated to indicate distances, the shooting line, and the waiting line, also known as the 1 m line. Archers stay at the waiting line until an official gives the signal to approach the shooting line. On the official’s next signal, archers are allowed to nock their arrows and prepare to shoot. On the final signal, archers may release their shots.

In FITA competitions, or FITAs, a total of 144 arrows are shot at 4 distances.

Individual competition in FITAs is broken down into two stages:

FITA tournaments begin with a qualification round, in which archers shoot 36 arrows at four different distances. Men shoot at targets that are 90 m, 70 m, 50 m, and 30 m away, and women shoot at targets that are 70 m, 60 m, 50 m, and 30 m away.

At the two furthest distances (90 m and 70 m for men, 70 m and 60 m for women), archers shoot 6 ends, or rounds, of 6 arrows within 4 minutes. At 50 m and 30 m, both male and female archers shoot 12 ends of 3 arrows within 2 minutes.

After the full FITA is completed, scores are tallied up, and the top 64 men and top 64 women in each division advance to the elimination round. Archers are ranked by their FITA score and seeded for the single-elimination bracket.

The elimination round is a single-elimination, match-play style of competition in which the top-ranked archer is matched up against the lowest-ranked archer (1st vs. 64th, 2nd vs. 63rd, and so on). The only distance used in the elimination round is 70 m for both men and women. Archers shoot 2 ends of 6 arrows each for a total of 12 arrows. Competing archers shoot on the same target at the same time. The archer with the higher total score advances to the next round.

In the quarterfinals, the eight winning archers shoot 4 ends of 3 arrows for a total of 12 arrows. Losers of the quarterfinals are eliminated, and winners advance to the semifinals. The losers of the semifinals are matched up together to shoot in the bronze medal match, while the two most winning archers shoot for the gold medal. The loser of the gold-medal match is awarded the silver medal.

The team round is shot at 70m for both men and women and consists of 3 archers to a team. Teams are seeded based on the sum of the archers’ scores in the FITA qualification round. Similar to the individual elimination format, the top-ranked team is matched up against the lowest-ranked team (1st vs. 16th, 2nd vs. 15th, and so on). Each archer shoots 2 arrows per end for a total of 6 arrows within a time limit of 2 minutes. Archers may shoot their arrows in any order, but only one archer may be on the line at a time. The remaining two archers must stay behind the waiting line.

During the finals, teams shoot alternately in a 24-arrow match. The first team shoots 3 arrows within a one-minute time limit, with each archer on the three-person team shooting only 1 arrow per rotation. After the first team shoots its end, the second team follows the same shooting format. The winner of the match is determined after 4 ends of 6 arrows (24 arrows total) have been shot. As with the individual elimination, all losers of the matches are eliminated except for those competing in the semifinals. Those teams who lost in the semifinals compete for the bronze medal, while the remaining two undefeated teams compete for the gold medal. The losers of the gold-medal match are awarded the silver medal.

Rules for Olympic competition are derived from FITA rules but tailored specifically for the Olympic Games.

In the Olympics, individual competition is broken into two stages:

Male and female athletes begin their Olympic competition with a 72-arrow qualification round, all shot at 70 m. Olympic participants are limited to 64 men and 64 women, all of whom represent countries that qualified at FITA World Championships and other Olympic-qualifying events. They shoot 6 arrows per end within a 4-minute time limit for 12 ends (for a total of 72 arrows).

After the qualification round is complete, archers are seeded according to their rankings for the individual elimination competition. The top-ranked archer shoots against the lowest-ranked archer (1st vs. 64th, 2nd vs. 63rd, and so on) during the head-to-head match play at 70 m. Archers shoot 4 ends of 3 arrows, for a total of 12 arrows per elimination match. The highest scoring archers continue through the elimination bracket until the last two undefeated archers are matched up for the gold medal match. Those who lose in the semifinals are paired to shoot for the bronze medal match.

The Olympic team round consists of teams of three archers each, all of the same gender and from the same country. Each team competes against another team in a head-to-head match play style of competition. Teams are ranked according to the sum of the three archers’ individual qualification round scores and are then seeded against another team (1st vs. 16th, 2nd vs. 15th, and so on). The team shoots 6 arrows per end within a 2-minute time limit, with each archer shooting no more than 2 arrows apiece. Teams shoot 4 ends of 6 arrows for a total of 24 arrows per match.

Unlike the individual rounds, where archers are called to the shooting line and are then signaled that their allotted shooting time has begun, all archers in the team round must remain behind the 1 m line. Only when the 2-minute time limit for the round has commenced can the archers step beyond the waiting line and approach the shooting line to shoot their arrows. Only one archer at a time is permitted beyond the 1 m line.

In all matches leading up to the finals, archers may shoot their arrows in any sequence. In the finals, however, each team shoots 3 arrows at a time, and then alternates with the opposing team. The team with the highest score continues through the brackets, while the loser is eliminated. The last two undefeated teams compete in the final gold medal-match, while the losers of the semifinal matches compete for the bronze medal.