about para archery

In Para archery, athletes test their precision by shooting an arrow as close as possible to the centre of the target from a distance of 50 or 70 metres. They might hold the arrow with hooks, straps, or even their mouths and find creative ways to make archery work for their bodies. Archers can compete with a recurve or compound bow, shoot standing or seated in a stool or wheelchair.

The recurve bow is the modern evolution of traditional bows while the compound bow features mechanical pulleys, telescopic sights and release aids to assist accuracy.

Archers compete with a recurve bow in the recurve open category and with a compound bow in the compound open category. In addition, Para archery also has a W1 category for athletes with impairments in both the top and bottom halves of their body.

The size of the target differs depending on the distance. In recurve events, a 122cm target is used at a distance of 70m, while an 80cm target is used at 50m in the compound competitions. The target in W1 events is 80cm and is shot from 50m.

All archers start by shooting 72 arrows to decide who goes head-to-head and advance by winning the most sets or achieving the highest cumulative score. The best archers can balance their bodies and concentration, and fight against the weather or noise.

Archers can compete in individual or mixed team events.

Para Archery history

Para archery is one of the sports that have been a part of the Paralympic Games since its inception at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games.

Before the Paralympics was established, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, known as the founder of the Paralympic Movement, introduced archery to injured veterans in his rehabilitation programme at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, UK. Under Guttmann, the first archery tournament for persons with a disability was held in 1948 and known as the Stoke Mandeville Games. It had 16 participants competing in wheelchairs.
Since then, the sport has grown in both participation and level. At the Rome 1960 Paralympics, 83 athletes from 15 countries competed across eight medal events. At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, 137 athletes (75 men and 62 women) from 47 countries competed across nine medal events.

Great Britain, France and the USA have competed in Para archery at all 17 editions of the Games.
With 22 gold medals, USA is the most successful Para archery nation to date, while South Africa’s Margaret Harriman, who competed at the Paralympic Games between 1960-1972 winning seven gold medals, is the most decorated athlete.
A total of 40 delegations have won medals in Para archery competition at the Paralympic Games.

Did you know ?

At the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, Spain’s Antonio Rebollo shot a flaming arrow to light the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. A few weeks later he earned the silver medal in the men’s recurve team event at the Paralympic Games.