In just one short week, over 10,000 athletes will arrive in the “City of Light” for the Paris Summer Olympics. Among those competing are five-time Olympian Brady Ellison, two-time Olympians Casey Kaufhold and Jennifer Mucino, and first-time Olympian Catalina GNoriega. Each of them has their sights set on gold and is determined to bring a medal back to the U.S. But how exactly do they do that? We’ll break down the ins and outs of the archery event at the Olympic Games for you, so you’ll know what to look out for when you tune in to watch the archers from Team USA on NBC, Peacock, and Archery+, starting July 25.
There will be 64 men and 64 women competing in archery at the Games. These spots are spread out across each country that qualifies. Quota spots are earned through the World Championships, Continental Games, Continental Qualifiers and the World Cup events. Countries may have either one or three men and or women in archery at the Games. Several additional spots are allotted to countries based on the athletes’ individual world ranking and universality.
Brady Ellison qualified for a men’s individual spot. Casey Kaufhold, Jennifer Mucino, and Catalina GNoriega qualified for a women’s team spot. Team USA is also eligible to compete in the mixed team category. The spot alongside Ellison on the mixed team will go to the highest ranked woman from qualification.
The archery matches will be held at the historic Esplanade des Invalides. The garden is across from the Hotel des Invalides which was built during the reign of King Louis XIV in 1687 as a military hospital and retirement home for war veterans. It’s now a French military history museum and monument, as well as the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. Yes: THAT Napoleon!
Each archer will shoot 72 arrows before the official brackets begin to determine their seed. For individuals, their score applies to them individually and for team events, the highest qualification scores of the athletes are combined for an overall team total. Once the athletes have their ranking, they will compete in head-to-head, single-elimination matches, according to their seeds. In this regard, the bracket functions much like March Madness. There will be three rounds, followed by a quarterfinal and a semifinal, all leading up to the bronze medal match and the gold medal match.
Each match consists of anywhere from three to five sets. The archers win the match in a “best three out of five” scenario. If one archer or team wins the first three sets in a row, the fourth and fifth sets are not needed. Individual archers will shoot three arrows per set, and teams shoot two per archer per set. Who wins each set is determined by calculating the total score of the arrows from that set. For example: if an archer lands one arrow in the 8-ring and another in the 9-ring, their total is 17 for that set. Whoever has the higher score wins 2 points for the set.
If there is a tie in set score, each athlete and/or team receives 1 set point. The first archer to reach 6 set points, or 5 set points for a team, wins the match. A 5-5 tie in individual match play, or a 4-4 tie in team events, results in a shoot-off where each archer shoots a single arrow. The tie is broken by whoever lands the higher score with that arrow. If it is still tied, the tie is broken by determining whose arrow was the closest arrow to the center.
Now that you know what to expect, grab your popcorn and get ready to watch Team USA archers battle it out at the highest level on the world’s biggest stage, starting July 25, on NBC, Peacock, and Archery+.
Stay tuned next month for a breakdown of the Paralympic Games.
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