ABOUT THE SPORT: First introduced to the Olympics in 1900, individual archery was on hiatus from 1920 to 1972 because there was no governing set of rules.
The International Federation of Archery (FITA) was founded in 1931, but it took 41 years before enough countries would accept its rules and bring the sport back to the Games. Team competition did not become an Olympic event until 1988.
Competitors use recurve bows, which weigh 48.5 pounds for men and 33 for women. A bow consists of a string, a riser (the handle) and two limbs curved away from the archer. The target is 4 feet in diameter and is set 70 meters from the archers.
Through seven days, 64 men and 64 women take part in single elimination tournaments. The archers are ranked according to a shootoff held the day before.
Archers will shoot 18 arrows (six groups of three), with no more than 40 seconds between each shot. From the quarterfinals on, they will shoot 12 (four groups of three).
AMERICA'S BEST: The women's team is led by Jennifer Nichols, who placed first in the Trials in mid-June. She is ranked fourth in the world and finished 259 points ahead of second-place Stephanie Arnold. Two-time Olympian Janet Dykman completes the squad.
Vic Wunderle, the individual silver medalist at the 2000 Games, recaptured the top spot on the men's team by beating three-time Olympian Butch Johnson by 43 points. John Magera, who had competed in only four tournaments before the Trials, rounds out the team.
WORLD'S BEST: Ranked No.1 by FITA, the Korean men and women are expected to be tough to beat. Im Dong-Hyun is the men's No.1, and teammates Yong-Ho Jang (No.6) and Kyung-Mo Park (No.7) are ranked in the top 10. Wietse Van Alten of the Netherlands, Michele Frangilli of Italy and David Barnes of Australia also should contend.
Koreans Mi-Jin Yun and Sung-hyun Park hold down the top two spots, respectively, in the women's ranking. Juan Juan Zhang (No.3, China), Iwona Marcinkiewicz (No.5, Poland) and Natalya Valeyeva (No.7, Italy) and are considered the top competition.
- Compiled by Roger Mills, using information from the USA Archery and other Olympic Web sites.
