istorically, nations have, through human It is fitting that the competitions at the Hendeavour, developed those elements and 2004 in Athens were staged at the personalities that have affected the world. In the Panathinaiko Stadium. One of the world's oldest western world, for example, Italy gave us VERDI, sports had held its Olympic competitions at the site MICHELANGELO and Leonardo Da VINCI; France of one of the most ancient sports stadia. spawned NAPOLEON, the Curies and the Eiffel A cave-like tunnel leads from outside, high on Tower; Great Britain produced the Magna Carta and the hill behind the stadium, down to the track - the the first great parliament. In ancient times, Egypt route that served as the entry for those Panathenian produced the pyramids and an advanced society. athletes. And, as the archers walked through the Most of these societies, except for the Egyptians, tunnel, they walked with the spirits of the ancient were preceded by the Hellenes and the Greeks, whose athletes, sensing the pageantry and the competi- city-states established the precedent for our democ- tive nervousness athletes universally experience as racies. SOCRATES and ARISTOTLE still influence modern they walk onto the track or into the arena before philosophy, as do their playwrights; and Greek archi- they race, wrestle and compete for glory. This sense tecture to this day serves as the model for many of the of time and place has special meaning within the world's symphony halls, courthouses, museums and spirit of those in the Olympic family. porticos with their fluted Doric, Ionic and Corinthian Tens of thousands of years ago, early man de- columns supporting the triangular facade above pended upon foot speed to bare-handedly catch his them. Therefore, in its way, the world still embraces food. He also threw rocks to stun his prey and de- ancient Greece, including the Greek value of sport. veloped an efficient spear to hurl. As his develop- The Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens has roots that ing intelligence made him more shrewd, he created date back 2300 years into antiquity, to the time of the traps and slings as he strove to create more efficient ancient Olympic Games. However, the Stadium nev- and safer methods to hunt ever larger animals and er held an ancient Olympics, all of which were held means that could harvest animals at a distance, si- in Olympia in western Greece. Instead, this was the lently, even while hidden. He needed the meat for place of the Panathenean Games, honouring Athena, protein, the pelt for clothing and shelter, the bone the goddess of wisdom within this city that bears her and sinew to make tools. name. (Panathinaiko is translated as Panathenean in He discovered the power stored within a sapling English.) These more local contests were held annu- or bough bent into an arc or bow, held to that arc ally as compared to the Olympic Games, which were by a bowstring - therefore archery. The bowstring held every fourth year. However, upon the revival of could be drawn, creating even more tension in the the Olympic Games in 1896, the Panathinaiko Stadium bow limbs and transferring that power upon release became the site of the first modern Olympics. of the drawn bowstring to a pointed arrow. The ar-

56 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 row would be hurled forward, accurately guided by Sagittarius, the archer and centaur, half-human half- feathers placed near the carved nock that initially horse, is found within astrology and astronomy as held it to the bowstring. Thereby the archer used the one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac and as an arc- then unknown principles of physics to bring down shaped constellation in our night sky avenging Orion, his prey at a greater, and thereby safer distance. the hunter, with a drawn bow whose arrow is aimed We assume certain archers were more efficient, at the star Antares, the Scorpion who slew Orion. whose skills found them gathering more prey, or Legends about archers include the Swiss hero who were more accurate against targets or whose William TELL, compelled to shoot an arrow through strength drew stronger bows allowing them to an apple upon his son's head; and Robin HOOD, whose shoot over longer distances. Therefore, within band of archers took from the rich to give to the poor in Homo sapiens' instinct to compete, a "sport" was oppressed old England. SHAKESPEARE'S kingly armies born, its origins lost in pre-history. had phalanxes of bowmen, and the Normans defeated Various concepts of the bow and arrow have been the English with longbows at Hastings in 1066. used on all the populated continents for purposes of Within our own experience, we saw the Olympic hunting, sport and warfare, ranging from the most movement create its own legend on the night of primitive to advanced societies: from the aborigines the 1992 Opening Ceremonies in Barcelona, where of those continents on to the Egyptians of five-thou- archer Antonio REBOLLO shot a flaming arrow in sand years ago, then the Assyrians, Chinese, Goths, blazing trajectory over the cauldron atop Montjuic Picts, Huns, and the armies of Genghis KHAN and Stadium to spectacularly light the Olympic Flame. the Mongol hordes, among others. Even today, na- The Panathinaiko Stadium itself is placed close to tives of the Kalahari Desert and Southeast Asian is- mythology. Upon a high hilltop, less than a kilome- lands and the Yamonani and other tribes of Brazil ter to its northwest we see in clear and contempla- still hunt with bow and arrow. The exception may tive view the Acropolis, which holds the Parthenon, be the Australian Aborigine where archaeological the massive Doric-columned temple dedicated to digs found small bows indicating they were prob- the virgin goddess of wisdom, Athena. ably used only for ceremonial purposes. Stories of archers abound in mythology, his- tory and literature. Within Roman mythology, the winged Cupid is an archer whose arrows bear love. Within HOMER'S Iliad, the leader Pandarus is renowned as an archer though he is treacherous, and within that Greek poem, Paris kills Achilles by shooting an arrow guided by Apollo into Achilles' heel, the only point at which he is vulnerable. Apollo's twin sister Artemis is the goddess of hunt- ing and wild animals. Diana is the Roman coun- terpart of Artemis and in paintings and statuary is typically posed holding a bow. Within The Odyssey (again HOMER), Odysseus (Ulysses) proves and identifies himself to his wife, Penelope, dispelling her suitors with an archer's feat of power and accuracy. Penelope sets the challenge:

"Here is my Lord Odysseus' hunting bow. Bend and string it if you can Who sends an arrow through iron axe-helve sockets? Twelve in line, I join my life with his.

Odysseus in one motion strung the bow, Slid his right hand down the cord and Plucked it so the taut gut Vibrated, hummed and sang

Now flashed arrow from twanging bow Clean as a whistle, through every socket ring And grazed not one."

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 57 So much for history and mythology and into mo- dernity — for in 2004, the Olympic Games returned to the country of their ancient birth and into Athens, the city of their modern revival more than a century ago. The ancient Olympic Games took place from 776 B.C., until 393 A.D., in Olympia, Greece whose hills were home to the senior gods including Zeus. They originated as a peaceful festival celebrating and concluding the four-year segments of their cal- endar, called Olympiads. The Games were instru- ments of peace as, during the Games, athletes from warring armies laid down their arms to come to Olympia to compete without hostility. (The concept of the "Olympic Truce" still exists - today, the United Nations implores nations to desist from conflict dur- ing for spectators, was built in 329 B.C., so ordered ing the tenure of each Olympic Games.) Then, as by Licourgas, Athens' governor. There were only a the Games descended into paganism, violence and few wooden structures to accommodate royalty and bloodshed, recently-Christianized Roman Emperor, religious leaders. It was renovated three quarters of THEODOSIUS I, ended them. a century later (250 B.C.) and reconstructed again During the early 1890s, the young French Baron almost four centuries after that (139 A.D.), this time Pierre de COUBERTIN campaigned to revive the in tiered white marble covering the hillsides. To the Olympic Games and the 14-member International south, a semi-circle of construction was added to Olympic Committee was established in 1894. They connect the hillsides, giving the stadium its elon- set to work organizing the first Olympic Games gated horseshoe appearance. of the modern era, which took place in Athens in The wealthy benefactor for this reconstruction 1896. And, how appropriate it was in 1896 for the was HERODES ATTICUS, whose sarcophagus honorably new Olympics to come home to Greece, though in rests on the hillside just above the east side of the sta- their modern form it was more efficient to come dium with the Greek inscription translated as: to the population centre of metropolitan Athens instead of to the rural township of Olympia al- "Here lies Herodes of Marathon, son of Atticus, most 200 kilometers to the west. They had come worthy home to Greece, if not to Olympia, the coming of all praise; all that surrounds him is his works" Olympics were an inspiration for the reconstruc- tion of Athens' Panathinaiko Stadium as the cen- In 1893, more than seventeen centuries after terpiece of the Games. A connection still exists ATTICUS' reconstruction in 139 A.D., the Panathinaiko between Athens and Olympia in that, prior to Stadium was reconstructed once again, this time each Olympic Games, winter and summer, inspired by the coming of the modern Olympic the Olympic flame is lit in Olympia by the Games in 1896. The Stadium had been used in some rays of the sun focused on the torch with a capacity until the fifteenth century after which it lay concave mirror. The flame is then borne by in disrepair and was dismantled. Its site was exca- Greek runners to the Stadium in Athens. vated in 1869 by Ernst TSCHILLER, a German, and There, it is passed to citizens of the next a quarter-century later, with the coming Olympic host city, starting a journey that finds Games as inspiration, a civic project was under- the flame borne by runners across the taken to reconstruct the marble stadium under the host nation, destined to arrive at the direction of architect Anastassios Metaxas. Olympic site during the Opening To be accurate, the first Games of the modern Ceremony. Olympics took place on the "site" and not within the The stadium is a natural bowl original Panathinaiko Stadium because time (and the consisting of two parallel rect- stone being used for other needs) had destroyed the angular hillsides facing each original marble construction. Timoleon PHILEMON, an other, one east, one west, once Olympic official in 1896, described the condition of divided by a ravine now con- the Stadium as they found it, "The Stadium was com- verted into the Stadium's pletely deserted, a shapeless field, a place of stones, thistles floor. The original, crude and rubbish gathered together on all sides, hardly having stadium, consisting pri- the skeleton shape, but a shapeless bulk" Therefore, " ...it marily of those hillocks was difficult to make it understood that the Panathenean serving as grassy seat- Stadium would be the principle field of the Games, the

58 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 Altis of Athens, the centre around which the whole cel- than four tons (2800 kilograms). The Stadium's ebration would pivot." When those Olympic organiz- nickname is "Kallimarmaro," meaning "beauti- ers came to the site they found only bits and pieces of ful marble" and justifiably so under the bright the original edifice as, over the centuries, the marble Mediterranean sunshine. At night, under artificial blocks had been removed to create other structures lighting the Stadium seems to glow in the dark as- or to be burned into lime. Therefore, the Stadium had suming a ghostly white beauty. to be entirely reconstructed, symbolically including On March 25, 1896, (April 6th on the Gregorian the few marble pieces that remained. calendar) in the presence of King KONSTANTIN and It was a task easier said than done. Funds for the Greek royal family, the first Olympic Games of reconstruction were short until the organizers ap- the modern era commenced with about 250 ath- proached a wealthy merchant, Georgios AVEROFF, letes representing 14 nations vying for medals in 9 who, as PHILEMON wrote, ''...understood its most sports. Track and field events plus gymnastics and Greek meaning and the true grandeur of the request put wrestling were contested within the Stadium. The to him." AVEROFF responded with such munificence marathon race, considered a separate sport, was also that a statue of him was unveiled at the Stadium's concluded at the stadium; while shooting, fencing, entrance on the eve of the Games, about one hun- swimming, cycling and lawn tennis held their com- dred meters from HERODES' sarcophagus. AVEROFF petitions at other locations. The most anticipated had become HERODES. event was the marathon, a 40-kilometer road race And so, by 1896, Panathinaiko Stadium was re- won by the Greek Spiridon Louis (who stopped to constructed in its present grandeur of white mar- have a glass of wine along the way), making him ble to be the appropriate site of the first Olympic a national hero and Greek legend. The swimming Games of the modern era. competitions were held within the Bay of Zea at Over the centuries, the Stadium has gone Piraeus. The Opening Ceremony took place within through several incarnations, evolving from two Panathinaiko before 70,000 spectators and, during parallel grassy hillsides more than 2,300 years ago, the ten days of competition, an estimated 312,000 to these massive tiers of white marble blocks, many spectators enjoyed the competitions within a city longer than three meters with a width and height whose population was 128,000. There were no com- of one meter. Other blocks are smaller according petitions in archery until four years later at the sec- to their function. The larger blocks weigh more ond modern Olympic Games in Paris.

The Panathinaiko Stadium at the 1st Olympic Games 1896 (from: Coubertin, Pierre de/Philemon, Timoleon/Politis, N.G./ Anninos, Charalambos, The Olympic Games. B.C. 776 -1896 A.D., part 2, Athens/London 1897, p. 27)

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 59 The Panathinaiko Stadium at the 2nd International Olympic Games Athens 1906 (from: Savvidis, Pan S., Leukoma ton en Athenais B' Diethnon Olympiakon Agonon, Athens 1907)

The 2004 Olympic archery was held within an In 2004, the Panathinaiko Stadium did not serve stadium 252 meters long and 127 meters wide. The as the main stadium. The primary venue for the length of its competitive surface is 207 meters and its Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Athletics width 33 meters. The surface is currently designed was the relatively modern (1982) 75,000 seat to hold competitions in athletics with a six-lane sur- Olympic Stadium, which is in the nearby suburb rounding track and various pits and surfaces for long of Maroussi. jump, high jump and shot put competitions. On the How did this conjuncture of Olympic archery track, near the curved south section of the stadium, are and Panathinaiko come to be? The idea to hold the two herms, nearly two meters high, that were found Olympic archery competitions at the Panathinaiko when the Stadium was excavated. On each herm are Stadium came jointly from the imaginations of back-to-back carved heads, similar to the drawings of Giuseppe CINNIRELLA, Secretary General of the Janus. One of the back-to-back heads is that of a young International Archery Federation (Federation man, the other of an old man, which may symbolize Internationale de Tir a l'Arc; FITA), Tom DIELEN, the the future and past respectively. The youth represents Federation's Executive Director, at that time, and a sense of freedom and abandonment; the elder repre- myself, Jim EASTON, President of the Federation. sents the caution that comes with age. We all realized how very appropriate it would be Vertical staircases and horizontal walkways di- to hold the competitions of what is probably one of vide the Stadium into 66 sections and various es- the world's oldest sports at a competitive site used timates place the seating capacity at about 70,000 for sport in antiquity. Having the Stadium used as spectators, although the increased size of today's an Olympic venue for archery would also serve as a spectators may find that capacity somewhat low- powerful reminder of the 1896 reincarnation of the ered. There are 47 tiers of flat marble to serve as seats, Olympic Games. the tiers rising at a 45-degree angle. Two thrones Still, appropriate ideas are not easily brought were sculpted into the marble at the lower, center to reality. The shape of the Stadium seemed not section of the south end of the Stadium to accom- to lend itself to a major archery venue. Current modate royalty or priests. The tunnel that served as Olympic competitions consist of eight target lanes. the entrance for athletes and judges descends from The Stadium's narrow configuration could accom- high on the hill behind the stadium down onto the modate only four lanes. So, competition was adapt- competition field at its southeast corner. There is no ed to fit the venue, with only two matches being internal structure within the Stadium as it is built in shot at one time; with the added benefit of making a natural basin upon those two hillsides. it even easier for the spectators to follow the action.

60 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 The seating capacity was limited to one section of As FITA persisted, we first acquired allies in the the Stadium, accommodating about 5,500 specta- ATHOC Sports Department and when Mrs. Gianna tors, although that capacity could be expanded to ANGELOPOULOS-DASKALAKI became President of 8,000 depending upon demand. ATHOC, she also understood the value of our re- The Stadium is owned by the Hellenic (Greek) quest. In July 2000, she confirmed the decision to Olympic Committee, and is a registered national use the Panathinaiko Stadium as the archery venue monument, a national treasure. It remains little by including it in the ATHENS 2004 Competition used except for an occasional jogger and as the set- Schedule for the first time. ting for the transfer of the Olympic flame from its As stated earlier, archery was not contested at Hellenic custodians to the organizers of the next those original 1896 Olympics, but it was included Olympic Games. There are also other occasional in the 1900 - Paris, 1904 - St. Louis, 1908 - London events there such as the Opening Ceremony of the and 1920 - Antwerp Olympic Games, after which 1997 IAAF World championships (track and field) the sport was dropped from the Games because and in 2004, it was where the Greeks chose to ac- there was no international archery federation to set claim their national football team after their amaz- a single set of international competitive rules. In ing triumph in the European Championships. those early Olympics, each host nation used com- The proposal was considered by ATHOC's top petitive formats which favored its own archers. For executives but initially rejected. FITA officials still example, in the women's competition at London, believed this was too good an idea to be dismissed the first eight in the "National Round" (48 arrows at and emphasized that use of the Stadium made 60 yards and 24 arrows at 50 yards) were all ladies economic sense in that the non-invasive use of the from Great Britain, including the gold medallist, 53 Stadium would cost far less in time and money year-old Sybil "Queenie" NEWALL, who remains the than having to construct a new archery venue to oldest female Olympic medallist. hold eight shooting lanes and thousands of specta- The Federation Internationale de Tir a l'Arc (FITA) tors. The Olympic organizers only needed to add was created in 1931, after which international rules another day of competition, a seventh, to complete were adopted. However, it took another forty-one the elimination matches. The four lanes within the years before the federation succeeded in having it Stadium were sufficient for the last four days of reintroduced in Munich in 1972 after an absence of single elimination matches and finals competitions more than a half-century. for individuals and teams.

The Panathinaiko Stadium during the Marathon event at the Olympic Games 2004 (Photo: Th. Zawadzki)

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 61 It can be assumed that mankind's early inven- limb, allowing the archer to draw a heavier pull tion of the bow and arrow as a tool stands in im- bow, which stores more energy, releasing the ar- portance with his ability to make fire and to invent row at greater velocity even though, because of the the wheel. His dominion over animals was estab- cams, less energy is needed to hold the bowstring lished by his superior capacity to reason and, as at full draw. The bow continues to be refined and that capability increased, he discovered his ability there are national and international tournaments to create, to invent, to improve. Using archery as and championships for archers using compound our example, Homo sapiens created the simple bow. bows; however the compound bow is not part of Then, four thousand years ago, the Assyrians mod- the Olympic competition. ified that relatively crude instrument by invent- Olympic archery, with a recurve bow, symbol- ing a more efficient bow which was smaller, more izes the ancient and traditional sport of archery powerful and more effectively used by warriors on that returned to the Olympic Games in 1972, after a horseback. In the creation of this technologically 52-year absence. advanced weapon, the master bowyer laminated Modern competitive bows, recurve or com- horn, wood and sinew to create a powerful "re- pound, have attached to them the accoutrements of

Diana (photo: H. Weinberg) Preparations for the Archery competitions in Sydney 2000 (Official Report)

curve bow." In a recurve design bow, the two tips accuracy such as: elongated stabilizer rods to steady of the bow curve forward, being partially straight- the bow during aiming, an adjustable sight for aim- ened when the bowstring is drawn, adding veloc- ing and a "clicker" which helps the archer to draw ity to the arrow upon its release. A modern version every arrow to the same length before releasing it. of the recurve bow is used for Olympic competi- Wind is a challenge to all archers. However, the tion today. Materials that construct the modern only real measurement of wind velocity is by the three-piece recurve bow (a handle and two limbs), archer's acute senses and the reaction of the small are alloys of light weight metals for the handle and flag that waves above each target and of the several wood or syntactic foam, fiberglass and carbon fiber windsocks on the field. The bow sight is aimed, for the limbs. with adjustments for the wind, at the target's bulls- The most recent incarnation for the archer is eye; but principles of physics require that each ar- the "compound bow," which was invented by H. row also be shot at a slightly upward angle so that Wilber Allen, who received an American patent for the arrow can fall into the center of the target. his design in 1969. The compound bowstring is not Arrows were originally made of wood, then attached to the tips of the bow limbs. Instead, an steel tubes, and for over 50 years, aluminum tubes, elongated bowstring extends over two cam-shaped but today, nearly all arrows used in the Olympics pulley wheels attached at the end of each bow have a thin tubular aluminum core with a bar-

62 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 rel shaped carbon fiber outer wrap. What were best days for the USA, though a look at the nation- the guiding feathers, are now vanes made from a alities of the contestants in 1972 and 1976 indicate soft plastic or thin mylar film. In antiquity, arrow how widespread archery had become throughout tips were made of chiseled flint or stone. Today, Europe, Asia and North America. PACE and RYON Olympic arrow tips are made of stainless steel or did not defend their titles as the USA boycotted tungsten. Over time, arrows have become smaller Moscow. In their absence of in diameter with stiffer and lighter carbon fiber Finland and Keto LOSABERIDZE of the Soviet Union construction. These arrows have a flatter trajectory won the male and female gold medals respectively. and are less affected by wind. It is apparent that Overall, 56 nations boycotted those Games or elect- the sport of archery persists as both art and science, ed not to accept their Olympic invitations. involving constant research and development of PACE returned in 1984 in Los Angeles to again materials and designs. win the gold, this time setting an Olympic record. Today, the archer himself is also the subject of re- Women's competition found SEO Hyang-Soon of search - his style, techniques and stance computer- South Korea winning the gold medal, establishing ized and analyzed with digitized video recordings an Olympic record, a harbinger of the coming dom-

The Ladies' Archery event in Athens 2004 (Photo: Th. Zawadzki) and his fears and attitudes studied by sports psy- ination of world and Olympic archery by South chologists. Physicists study the aerodynamics of the Korean women. In 1988 in Seoul, the American arrow within meteorological conditions: headwinds, won the men's gold and South Korean crosswinds, tailwinds, and humidity. Olympic ar- PARK Sung-Soo took silver; and three South Korean chers will be interested in knowing that tempera- women won the gold, silver and bronze medals, tures within Panathinaiko Stadium are typically four led by KIM Soo-Nyung. degrees lower (Celsius) than outside. Also, there is In 1992, in Barcelona, Sebastien FLUTE of France usually a constant and gentle wind and sometimes a won the men's gold medal with the women's event strong wind that blows parallel to the length of the being won by CHO Youn-Jeon of South Korea, her stadium - towards the archers as they aim. teammate KIM Soo-Nyung this time taking the When archery came back to the Olympic Games, silver. The 1996 Olympic competition in Atlanta the sport seemed dominated by Americans. John found the USA's winning the men's WILLIAMS took the gold in 1972 at Munich and gold medal as South Korean KIM Kyung-Wook won in 1976 at Montreal, and both set won the women's gold. world records. Doreen WILBER in 1972 and Luonn Spectators in Sydney in 2000 were thrilled when RYON in 1976 also took gold for the USA and each Australian, , won the gold in the set a World record in the process. These were the men's competition; while again South Korean wom-

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 63 en took all three medals in the women's competi- rings is a thin line dividing each ring into inner and tion, with 17 year old YUN Mi-Jin winning the gold. outer scoring areas of equal width - 6.1 centime- The first Olympic team (three archers) competi- ters (2.4 inches). The inner yellow circle, the bulls- tions took place at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and eye, has a diameter of 12.2 centimeters (4.8 inches). the hometown South Koreans took the gold medal There are 10 different scoring areas. in both the men's and the women's tournaments. An arrow landing within the inner yellow area, Since the 1992 Olympics, the top eight teams are the bulls-eye, scores 10 points. An arrow that lands selected for the Olympics at the World Archery in the outer yellow ring scores 9 points. An arrow Championships prior to the Olympics, and up to shot into the inner red ring, scores 8 points, and as eight additional teams are selected at the Olympics arrows land further away from the center of the from the teams with the highest score during the target within the various rings, lesser points are Ranking Round. The Olympic team event is a scored, down to one point for the outer white ring. single-elimination match competition where the An arrow that touches a dividing line between three archers on each team alternate shooting three two scoring areas is given the higher value. For ex- rounds of three arrows each. Though Spain (1992) ample, an arrow shot into the inner blue section, and USA (1996) won the men's team competition, but whose outer surface touches the line dividing the Korean women were utterly dominant at that it from outer red is given a score of 7, not 6 time and the Korean men joined them at points. the top of the podium in Sydney in Since archery's return to the 2000, a success both Korean teams Olympic Games in 1972, shooting repeated in Athens 2004. formats have gone through several PARK Sung Hyan's gold med- changes. The FITA Round was used al in the women's competition through the 1984 Games - 288 ar- in Athens meant that since 1984 rows were shot from a variety of South Korean women have won distances, ranging from 90, 70, 50 every Olympic gold medal avail- and 30 meters for men and 70, 60, able within individual and team 50, 30 meters for women. The win- archery. The outstanding archer in ner was the archer with the highest these competitions has been KIM score after four days of shooting. Soo-Nyung, who won gold, silver Then, in 1988, the first modified and bronze medals in individual FITA Round elimination format competitions and three golds in was adopted, called the Grand team competitions between 1988 FITA Round. In 1992, Olympic and 2000. And, though not as Archery Logo of the Athens Games competition changed to the cur- dominant as their women, South 2004 rent, exciting, match-play, single- Korean men have also done well in elimination Olympic Round. Olympic competition with successive golds in the The individual and team Olympic Rounds in- team event. volve only one shooting distance - 70 meters, which Why are South Korean men and women so applies to both men's and women's competitions. dominant in archery? The answer lies in the his- Within the Olympic Games individual competi- toric and strong archery tradition in Korea and in tion, there is first a Ranking Round. Each of the the national pride within a nation that has taken ar- 64 men and 64 women Olympic archers shoots 72 chery to its heart; where archery is taught to young arrows, then each archer is ranked from 1st to 64th students and well-subsidized company archery according to his/her score. A bracket is established teams abound. Also, there are many full time, well for the subsequent single-elimination matches, paid archery coaches within the company teams, with the 1st ranked archer competing against the the schools and national team training facilities. archer who placed 64th, the 2nd ranked archer These South Korean Olympic medallists are role competing against 63rd, the 3rd against 62nd and models and national heroes that children strive to so on. Therefore, there are 32 single-elimination emulate. matches, then 16, until ultimately eight archers To understand the sport of archery, some knowl- qualify for the finals. Until this point, each archer edge of how it is scored is necessary. The diameter shoots 18 arrows within each match. Then, from of the circular archery target is 1.22 meters (4 feet). the quarterfinals through the final match, 12 ar- The center of the target is yellow in color. Four rings rows are shot by each competitor. That final match surround the yellow, the first being red, the next is the sixth for the two competitors, 90 total arrows blue, then black and finally a white ring that serves having been launched, not to mention the 72 ar- as the outer circumference of the target. Within all rows shot in the original ranking round.

64 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 Of course, within the tournament there may possibly by the uncaring vagaries of a gust of wind. be tied matches, which are broken by the score The trueness of the trajectories of Olympic arrows achieved by shooting a single additional arrow. defines fame and glory as well as they may define If the archers stay tied after the third shootout, sorrow and disappointment. the technical officials will determine the winner In 1992, Spain won the men's team event by only by measuring which archer's third arrow landed two points - 238-236; and similarly in 1996 the USA closer to the center of the target. All of which may men's team defeated the South Koreans 251-249. In find victory or defeat determined by the location of 1980, shooting the old double FITA Round (288 ar- those last one, two or three arrows, the culmination rows) individuals competition, Tomi POIKOLAINEN of years of anticipation, competition and training. of Finland defeated Boris ISACHENKO of the Soviet What can be more thrilling, even heartbreaking? Union: 2455-2452, a margin of a mere three points For example, in the 1996 Olympic quarterfinal within the thousands that were scored. Victory or match, USA's Justin HUISH, needed only to score a 9 defeat can be only a hairsbreadth apart. with his last arrow to win against When in Athens, go to the beautiful white mar- of Italy. However, Huish scored an 8 as Frangilli ble Panathinaiko Stadium beneath the glory of the scored a 10 with his final arrow to tie the match. Acropolis to see the perfect setting where the 2004 Within the ensuing tiebreaker, they tied once again. Olympic archery took took place, a sport that can In the second tie-breaker, Huish shot a 10 and cause your heart to race with the twang of a bow- Frangilli a 9, Huish went on to the semi-final then string and the thump of an arrow landing in the to the final match to win the gold medal, defeat- heart of the bullseye - the arrow almost too swift to ing Magnus Petersson of Sweden. Frangilli eventu- be seen within its trajectory. ally finished 6th, the possible difference between a Neither ULYSSES, nor Robin HOOD, nor William gold medal and 6th place having been determined TELL could have imagined nor even dreamed it! by the placement of that last quarterfinal arrow, or

Antonio Rebollo at the Opening Ceremony of the Barcelona Olympic Games 1992 (Diem Archives)

JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 14(AUGUST 2006)NUMBER 2 65