I put together a Spotify playlist of Brazilian music to help you start getting in the mood for Rio. It spans from the 60s to right now, and takes in quite a few of the many genres the country has produced. It’s always available on the right hand column of this blog (scroll down). Enjoy!
Alison Williamson (Pic by Dean Alberga)
Fascinating article this week on the OlympStats website about athletes who have competed in multiple Olympics. Turns out only about 30% of athletes make it to a second Games, although winter Games athletes have a slightly better chance of coming back, and women slightly more than men. You can read it right here:
Archery rates pretty well for athletes making it to multiple Games, reflecting the longer possible career compared to many endurance sports. When it come to athletes who have attended more than four Olympics, it sits mid-table, with shooting taking the top prize. Table-tennis ranks surprisingly highly though. The list of archery multiple Olympians is here:
6 Olympics: Ilario Di Buò, Alison Williamson (above, pictured), Natalia Valeeva.
5 Olympics: Simon Fairweather, Giancarlo Ferrari, Butch Johnson, Tomi Poikolainen, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Khatuna Lorig.
4 Olympics: Aurora Bretón, Emilio Dutra e Mello, Michele Frangilli, Steven Hallard, Kyösti Laasonen, Takayoshi Matsushita, Rick McKinney, Natalia Nasaridze-Çakir, Joanna Nowicka-Kwaśna, Magnus Petersson, Cornelia Pfohl, Evangelia Psarra, Balzhinima Tsyrempilov, Antonio Vázquez, Stanislav Zabrodsky.
Alison Williamson was previously considering trying to join the elite ranks of those who had attended seven Olympics games, which would have been a UK record and a record for the sport, but decided to retire in 2014. Of the list above, Natalia Valeeva is still very much competing on the top level, although Italy currently only has a single spot qualified for Rio. As has the USA, with Khatuna Lorig qualifying a single spot in Copenhagen – but not necessarily her spot. The legend that is Michele Frangilli is also still competing, and may well feature in Rio. The story goes on. And on.
Great brief thinkpiece on the Canadian Olympic site with Crispin Duenas talking about the mental and physical side of the game:
http://olympic.ca/2015/05/27/the-lonely-contemplative-existence-of-the-perfectionist-archer/
You should also see Crispin’s tidy video, shot at Shanghai 2015, on fletching arrows. Best one I’ve seen, I think.
Matt Stutzman at the Paralympics: London 2012
With just a few hundred days to go until Rio, there has now been a pair of posts by USA Archery speaking with Tom Dielen about if, how and when compound archery would be introduced to the Olympic Games (it has been a part of the Paralympics since 2008, of course). I have compiled both of them below into one interview.
There is already a plan submitted to include a recurve mixed team event at Tokyo 2020, which is a much easier sell to the IOC as it would not increase the number of athletes. Keeping the number of athletes for the Summer Games down to 10,500 is a key tenet of the Agenda 2020 proposals which are designed to reduce the cost and complexity of hosting the Games.
There are logistics issues too: the four medal archery programme at the moment with 128 athletes already monopolises a large venue for a week, so in order to have a compound competition either the programme would have to be significantly extended, the venue redesigned (presumably to four lanes) or the total number of athletes kept at the same or similar number, which would significantly change the recurve competition.
It seems very unlikely to be introduced at Toyko 2020, so if it does happen, the 2024 Games will be the earliest we see the bowstyle appearing. I suspect a lot depends on the continuing popularity of the Olympic competition in Brasil and Japan for a worldwide TV audience. Here’s hoping.
What if compound archery was an Olympic event?
The benefits to archery are clear: There would be increased exposure for the sport, and the opportunity for more Olympic archery medals.
After all, archery is archery – no matter what bow we shoot.
But is it even possible for compound archery to become an Olympic event, and if so, what would it take to make that happen? For the first in a series of articles on this very hot topic, we talked with Tom Dielen, the Secretary General of World Archery.
“Worldwide, is it possible to estimate the percentage of compound archers versus recurve archers? “
It’s incredibly difficult to count the number of archers worldwide, independent of the bow they shoot: There are all those who shoot casually at a club or aren’t members of a federation, or visit centers or shops.
What we can easily count is the number of elite athletes competing at World Archery events and compare how many of these are compound and how many are recurve.
Over the 2014 season of World Championships (indoor and field) and Archery World Cup stages, we had 909 recurve entries and 653 compound. That’s about a 60:40 split.
In some of our larger member associations (national archery governing bodies), you would find more of a 70:30 split based on participation at national competitions.
We know that the number of casual compound archers is large, especially in North America, but we’re aiming to convert these people into competitors in the sport.
“Why hasn’t compound archery already been a part of the Olympic Games? “
Compound archery was first included in the World Archery Championships in 1995 – after an introduction in field and indoor disciplines earlier on.
It was only three years before that when World Archery introduced the head-to-head system to recurve archery, a competition format that greatly increased the event’s value to the Olympic Program.
A first request to include compound into the Olympics was made by Jim Easton in the late 1990s. However, the feedback received at that time was that it was impossible to add athletes, the disciplines were too similar, and that compound lacked universality (appeal and involvement from many different types of countries). What’s more, at that time, the position of archery was not as strong as it is now.
Getting a sport or discipline added to the Olympic Program has not been a quick process. Sports were voted in and out only at meetings held every four years – and there was little turnover.
However, the situation changed slightly last December, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted the Agenda 2020 recommendations that shifted the Olympic Program from sports-based to event-based.
“What is World Archery’s position on having compound archery added to the Olympic Games? “
World Archery would like to have more archery events and more medals at the Olympic Games. The first goal is to add the mixed team to the recurve event, as this is quota neutral – meaning it does not increase the number of athletes.
It would be fantastic for the sport and its exposure internationally and in individual countries to include compound athletes in the Olympic Games.
There is the example of India at the Asian Games, where compound was introduced for the first time in 2014. The nation made the top 10 rankings thanks to four compound medals in archery. Nowhere does it say whether these were compound or recurve medals; they count just the same, and as archery.
Having said that, compound archery is already in the World Games – a multisport event that has been growing at an exceptional rate. The next edition is scheduled for Wroclaw in 2017, and then the World Games will head to Birmingham, Alabama in the USA for 2021.
At Cali [Colombia] 2013, there were huge, full spectator stands for the compound event. Birmingham 2021 is a real opportunity to showcase the sport – and what’s more, the IOC has signed an agreement to work closer with the World Games as a result of Agenda 2020.
The IOC basically sees the World Games as a test platform for new events. Therefore, we all have huge interest in delivering a great compound event at future World Games. Together with USA Archery, we should aim to have 10,000 spectators watching the finals in Birmingham.
That would send a clear message.
World Archery is also working to have compound added to other Continental Games, following the example of the Asian edition, as another way of increasing visibility.
“What are the IOC’s criteria for adding new events? “
There are many areas of assessment for new sports events in the Olympic Games. They range from participation, popularity, gender balance and competition level, to engagement with youth, integrity and individuality. One essential factor is television appeal.
Compound archery has the qualities of an Olympic discipline – but it will be up against tough competition like skateboarding, squash, wakeboarding and 3×3 basketball.
For the 2016 Olympic Games, along with the 26 Summer Olympic sports from London, there were 23 additional requests from sports to join the event. We are not the only ones with great ideas!
Now that we’re excited to see compound archers in the Olympic stadium, what can specifically be done to add compound archery to the Olympic Games? How can archery fans support this effort – and how are governing bodies working to make this change? Keep an eye out for our next article in this series, which will explore next steps for this initiative.
How would the addition of compound potentially benefit the sport of archery?
There would be increased exposure, the opportunity for more Olympic archery medals. It would give more chances for different countries to win medals.
Is there any sense of how soon compound might become a part of the Games?
It will not be a quick process, but each step along the way will be beneficial. Realistically, we are possibly looking at 2024, but more likely 2028.
What are some of the changes that must be made in order to have compound added?
We have to raise the level of competition in the discipline, not in terms of the top archers but the depth and variety of the field. Compound archery is popular in some countries – like the USA – but the Olympics is a worldwide sporting event and many less developed nations simply do not practice the discipline.
At a most basic level: the availability of equipment and technical expertise.
The other critical element is the gender balance in all aspects. This means in participation but especially in performance level. At the moment, the level of compound women’s elite archery is not the same as the men’s. At the last World Championships, 28 points separated the women’s top 30 athletes over the qualification round – only 14 points the top 30 men. This pattern is echoed across other major events.
Alongside our development work, more investment needs to be made by member associations and manufacturers to make this a reality. Equal prize money in all events (World Archery already has this) is another related aspect to work on.
There’s also work to be done in event presentation – making compound more and more appealing to a live audience – communicating the successes, stories and challenges of the sport more effectively, and working to maximize that “cool” factor of archery in the movies.
We tested a number of competition formats over the past few years – and that is part of the process of developing a sport product that is different enough to the recurve event to have a chance of being included.
We need to develop archery’s version of beach volleyball. It doesn’t need to be on a beach – but we do need to make it different enough from recurve archery to enhance the appeal!
How is World Archery working to help make these changes?
Continued development of the compound competition format, presentation and standard, and our international events, is a huge part of the process. The shift to include compound archery in the World Games – the first being the 2013 event – another initiative, plus the discipline in the first continental multisport event last year. We also have had excellent compound competitions in the Universiades and the Commonwealth Games.
We are making changes to how we present athletes on our website and encouraging high levels of social media activity among archers – another marker the IOC assess.
Our development department works hard to promote archery of all levels in nations growing in the sport around the world, and we have an equipment assistance program sponsored by many archery manufacturers.
During the ATA Show, World Archery met with manufacturers to explain why we have put in place the rule against athletes using camouflage equipment at international events. As well as safety (in field and 3D) being a factor, the move is largely about the presentation of the sport looking towards the Olympics. Camo would not be allowed at the Games – and if we truly want compound archery into the Olympics, then we need to make it a sport that we can successfully submit to the IOC for inclusion.
At World Archery target events (world championships and the Archery World Cup), the compound and recurve competitions are equal. We use Saturday as the compound finals day and Sunday for the recurve – both with identical schedules and prize money.
Is there anything that archers, coaches and others can do to help with having it included?
Sports need personality and proactivity from elite athletes – as well as performance. Jesse Broadwater is a fantastic compound example: recently, his athlete Facebook page has grown to around 24,000 likes as he has put the effort in to better promote himself and the sport. It’s this kind of attitude that helps make compound in the Olympics a viable suggestion.
At whatever level and in whatever field – be it as an athlete, a coach, a tournament organizer, a photographer or journalist, even in governance of a club, region, state, or country – it’s about presenting compound archery as a global discipline that everyone can enjoy, participate in and watch.
Small things can help: wearing smart or sports clothes and shoes rather than jeans provides that positive sporting image to the external audience that we all know archery to have. If we want to be perceived as sportsmen and women in a real sports discipline, then we need to dress and act as such.
Remember, it’s not archers that we need to convince that compound should be in the Olympics. It’s those who don’t shoot.
Anything else WA would like to add:
Archery is archery no matter what bow we shoot. We all love the sport and we need to make sure we stay positive about archery as a sport, together – and give it the good image it deserves. If we work together, presenting a unified and larger group of athletes, then things will become easier and progress will be made.
[via: http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Archery/News/Features/2015/March/19/Is-Compound-Archery-an-Olympic-Hopeful]
[http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Archery/News/Features/2015/July/22/Is-Compound-Archery-an-Olympic-Hopeful-Part-2]
You may also want to read this piece from the NYT from 2012.
Just watched this documentary from the early 2000s about Bhutan featuring archer Tshering Choden, who competed for the Himalayan nation in the Olympics. It might be the only country in the world where archery is the national sport, but it takes serious dedication to be an archer in a region where the selection competition might be a terrifying 20-hour bus journey away.
Tshering, born on 1st January 1979, had an interesting Olympic career which you can read about here (no spoilers). The film also covers a traditional archery competition in a nation where literally every village has an archery field. Most archers compete hit-or-miss at a distance of about 145 meters (476 feet) – interestingly, the same standard distance as Korean traditional archery.
Archery, luck, tradition and religion are closely intertwined in Bhutan. I’m willing to bet your local county tournament doesn’t involve specially composed songs sung by everyone’s wives, ritual magic involving menstrual blood, or a ban on sex the night before. The star of the film is really the extraordinary country and its culture, poised on the precipice of modernity – although it’s reassuring to see that rude jokes and playing cards for cash are cultural universals, amongst much else. Enjoy.
FYI: this seems to be a re-voiceovered version of a German documentary called Die Bogenschützin von Bhutan (The Archer Of Bhutan) – with a barely-edited English translation, and the credits stripped off for some reason. Anyway, enjoy.
More on Bhutanese archery: this article on the national championships from the New York Times in 2013.
So I got tipped off about this incredible audio documentary about sound design in sport, on the 99% Invisible radio website. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011, it explores modern sports broadcasting and the various techniques used to heighten the atmosphere. In some cases, the sound design employed entirely changes our perception of what the sport is ‘about’. If you have time, it’s worth listening on headphones, or at least in stereo:
The amplified sound of a ball bouncing on grass at Wimbledon over a hushed crowd, with just the faintest trace of reflections from the court, is as much an essential sensory part of the Championships as the white clothing and the beautiful green grass filling the screen. This was brought home to me last year when I watched a game under the closed roof of Centre Court, which was only installed in 2009. Since an outdoor court effectively becomes an indoor court, the reverberations change completely, and it suddenly feels alien and strange. Memory and expectation become part of the audience experience (and indeed, the players experience too).
Other TV sports, such as darts, with the heavily amplified thud of the dart hitting the board over a tense crowd ‘hush’ turn out to be enhanced by sample trickery. The sliding sports at the Winter Olympics are similarly tweaked to improve the audience experience, and curling, with its distinct vocal repertoire and constant team communication is one of the few sports where the entire team are miked up individually. For a different experience, Olympic diving now switches to underwater microphones along with an underwater camera shot as soon as the athlete hits the water; to catch the bubbles and the isolation of the diver returning to the surface.
Of course, many effects which are now essential to the character of sports broadcasting are denied to the audience who have actually turned up to watch. Although there’s stiil some things you can’t get through the TV. I was at Twickenham as a teenager to watch England v France in 1991, and the roar that went up when the England team ran onto the pitch has been imprinted on me for good. “Energy is pure delight.”, as William Blake wrote.
And yes, there is archery. If you want to skip straight there, it’s about 28 minutes in. From the 1990s onwards the Olympic event started using boundary microphones out on the field to catch the sound of the arrow in flight: a subtle, but engaging effect. The announcer, the crowd and the sound of the arrow striking the target become part of the experience. Personally I think they should bring back the heartrate monitor trialled at the World Cup Final in Tokyo in 2012, but apparently it wasn’t popular.
Finally, I will never forget being in the stands at London 2012, where I recorded just a brief bit of audio on my phone; part of the action at the women’s individual final. See what you can hear:
I wish I had had a microphone sensitive enough to pick up the sound in the stands at Lords: the eyelets on the flag rattling gently in the breeze against the metal flagpoles, casting a distinctive, exotic tinkling over the arena, and at the moments of greatest tension. It’s stuck there in my memory forever though. Wish I could share it with you.
Thanks to John Hirst for finding this.
Archery stamps from round the world across the 20th century. The image of a bow, usually at full draw, never loses its appeal – and the universality of that image works well at small sizes. Just look at this lot:
Archer using a hunting bow, designed by Belgian artist Émile Vloors (1871-1952), engraved and printed by American Bank Note Company, and issued for use in Belgian Congo in 1923.
Woman archer, printed by photogravure, and issued by Indonesia on May 15, 1996 to publicise the Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, USA.
Traditional archer, printed by lithogravure, and issued by Bhutan on May 16, 1962.
Woman archer, designed by Czech artist Jan Cerny, engraved by Jan Mrácek, and issued by Czechoslovakia on April 30, 1957 to publicize the World Archery Championships, held in Prague.
Stamp depicting a petroglyph of prehistoric archers found in the Ennedi Plateau, designed and engraved by Jean Pheulpin, and issued by Chad on November 19, 1968.
from Ajman
Lithographed in Moscow, 1927
Stamp depicting Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu in Hinduism, printed by photogravure, and issued by Indonesia on August 31, 1971 to publicize the International Ramayana Festival.
Cyprus stamp for Munich ’72 featuring the pictogram from the famous Otl Aicher set. Read a whole lot more about archery pictograms here.
Issued by Japan on September 6, 1996 to publicise the 51st National Athletic Meet.
Designed by Polish poster artist Waldemar Swierzy (1931- ), printed by photogravure, and issued by Poland on May 20, 1972 to publicise the Summer Games in Munich.
Designed by Russian graphic artist Yuri A. Lukianov, and issued by Russia (USSR) on June 24, 1971 as one of a set of five stamps publicizing the 5th Summer Spartakiad.
from Monaco for the Tokyo Olympics 1964
Woman archer and Mount Nantai, printed by photogravure, issued by Japan on October 11, 1980 to publicize the National Archery Meet, held in Tochigi.
Three archers (wearing some very interesting outfits) and target, designed by Chun Hee-ban, printed by photogravure, and issued by Korea on October 8, 1971 to publicise the 52nd National Athletic Meet.
Stamp depicting Admiral Yi Sun-shin (1545-1598), a Korean naval commander famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty, designed by Pak Choon-kyo, printed by lithography, and issued by Korea on October 1, 1949.
Engraved stamp depicting an archer, issued by Japan on August 22, 1954 as one of two stamps in a set publicising the 9th National Sports Festival of Japan, held in Hokkaido.
Kyudo based postmark from Japan.
Moldovan stamp celebrating Natalia Valeeva‘s bronze medal in Barcelona ’92 for the Unified Team.
Painterly London 2012 Paralympic archery logo. (I have a badge of this one…)
There’s many more stamps out there if you want to get Googling. Almost all of the above and much of the text information came from this incredible thread at stampcommunity.org, with special mentions for users rod222 and especially nethryk. The dedication of people on the internet to their particular craft never ceases to delight and amaze me. Thanks very much indeed.
At the recent Asian Games, Korean archers and coaches collectively received nearly 880 million won (over £500,000 / $800,000) in bonuses from their sponsor Hyundai for the five golds, three silvers and one bronze medal they took home from Incheon.
The going rate for a gold medal is 70 million won (about £41,000 / $65,000), with 60 million won for a silver and 50 for a bronze. Not bad, and apparently more than the government bonus for Olympic gold medals in 2012 – although in Korea that also gets you a monthly stipend for life. Hyundai handed out similar bonuses to the medallists after London, and indeed Korea’s big corporations step in with cash for all kinds of Olympic sports, and become fairy godfathers to many types of athletes.
Many nations dole out cash for Olympic success. The top payer is Singapore, who sent just 26 athletes to London, offering $800,000 dollars to any of their sportsmen who take home a gold medal (although in 2012, this prize went unclaimed). The ‘table’ looks like this:
However, of the developed G8 countries, the gold payout table looks like this:
Pic from canadianbusiness.com
more countries’ bonus details here
(Yes, that’s right. Unlike almost every country in the world, Britain pays nothing at all for Olympic achievement.)
As for Korea, I am increasingly convinced that the main reason that that nation dominates the sport isn’t the training regime, or the talent identification system, or the professional leagues – it’s the money. In the case of the KAA, something like half the operating budget ultimately comes from Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia Motors. The historical reason for this is that in the early 1980s the authoritarian government leaned on their big corporations to fund Olympic sports – specifically, less popular sports – by giving them tax breaks to do so. This involved Hyundai actually taking over the NGB – thus began the Korean archery machine.
The governments changed, but over time the corporations came to see funding Olympic sports as both an excellent overseas marketing opportunity and a useful, very public exercise in social responsibility. The success of Korean archery and the success of Hyundai/Kia reflect each other; a win-win situation. The KAA and its powerful sponsor remain deeply entwined today, as was seen in Incheon when its formidable patron and chairman Chung Eui-Sun – vice-chairman of Hyundai – took the extraordinary step of rebuilding sections of the archery field after complaints were raised by the attending media. The immense amount of corporate funding allows for a deep pool of dozens of professional athletes to develop to their fullest potential, rather than the two or three per generation in every other country. That’s the real ‘secret’.
So, how can any other nation compete with that? I still think archery in the UK could attract sponsorship money, because it is invariably intriguing and dramatic to laymen – it’s saleable, and it’s hot right now (certainly compared to many other sports). The entry barriers are lower; partly because it needs much less ‘explaining’ than some other sports. World Archery has managed to pull in long-term deals from a wide variety of international brands with very different markets and brand values.
Of course, the Korean national team is the only archery squad in the world with that kind of cash ‘carrot’ at the end of a non-Olympic competition, and indeed, that kind of patronage, but it is ultimately indicative of a culture. South East Asia highly values its Olympic sportsmen and women and sees international achievement as a deep source of national pride, and its oligarchical system rewards that accordingly (it should be noted that the Asian Games is played out against a daunting backdrop of fierce historical rivalries). In the UK, unless you play cricket or football you receive little more than a pat on the back and a ‘jolly good show’ from the establishment.
The cult of the amateur is over. Unfortunately, international success in sport needs money, spent professionally and ruthlessly.
Thanks to DarkMuppet at Archery Interchange.
Got the special ‘archery’ fifty pence in my coffee change again. It’s gonna be a good day.
(you can read more about this coin here.)
Interesting, and somewhat strange, recent article from the Telegraph about Brazilian archery. Read it here.
“The quiet teenager is one of 12 boys recruited from the rainforest for his remarkable skills with a bow and arrow, honed since the age of nine and passed on to him by generations of ancestors.” Okay. I can’t make out if this is a genuine attempt to recruit more indigenous Amerindians to the Brasilian Olympic team, or some kind of well-meaning PR exercise. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, though. Good stuff.