Paris Olympics: What are Archery Ranking Round Rules, Regulation and Format? How Crucial Are They in Medal Run?

Add as a preferred source on Google

Indian archers have arrived in Paris brimming with excitement and enthusiasm for the Paris Olympics 2024. They are determined to secure India’s first-ever Olympic medal in archery. The team includes six talented archers who will compete across five categories.

Among them experienced Olympians Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai are gearing up for their fourth Games bringing invaluable experience. Pravin Jadhav returns for his second Olympics while Dhiraj Bommadevara, Bhajan Kaur, and Ankita Bhakat are set to make their Olympic debuts.

The archery competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics will kick off a day before the official opening ceremony on 25th July. All five archery events at the Paris 2024 Olympics begin with a ranking round which seeds athletes for the subsequent medal events. In this round, archers shoot to accumulate the highest total points. Following the ranking round, the competition shifts to a head-to-head format.

How does Ranking Round work?

All 128 participating archers will compete in a qualifying round that determines the seeding for individual, mixed team, and team events, effectively setting the stage for their matchplay opponents.

The qualification process is straightforward. Archers will shoot 72 arrows at a target 70 meters away, divided into 12 ends (series) of six arrows each, taking about two hours to complete. Each athlete has two minutes to shoot six arrows in each end.

Why is Ranking Round important?

The archers' scores, which can reach a maximum of 720 points, are then totalled and they are ranked from highest to lowest based on these scores. This ranking will determine their seeding for the subsequent matchplay rounds.

Archers will be ranked from 1 to 64 based on their scores. The Top 32 of each men's and women's ranking rounds will have a comparatively easier path in the knockout stages as the No. 1 seed will face No. 64 followed by No. 2 up against No. 63 and so on.

In addition to individual rankings, the ranking round will also determine the team rankings for men and women, with teams being ranked from 1 to 12 by summing the individual scores of their members.

Furthermore, the ranking round will establish the 16 pairs that qualify for the mixed team event. For countries with both male and female archers, the highest men's score and the highest women's score will be combined to determine the top 16 seeds.

Can India get a good seeding in Ranking Round?

As for India, both the men’s and women’s archery teams have qualified for Paris 2024 based on their impressive world rankings. According to World Archery, the Indian men’s team is ranked second just behind South Korea while the women’s team holds the eighth position.

The Indian men’s team in particular has shown remarkable form this year. In April, the trio of Rai, Jadhav, and Bommadevara made history by winning a World Cup gold in Shanghai, defeating the reigning Olympic champions, the Republic of Korea. Veterans like Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai bring a wealth of experience that will be crucial. The archery competitions start at the Esplanade des Invalides on July 25 and run through August 4.

Who are the top archers competing at the Paris Olympics?

While South Koreans are the leaders of the game for eons, Turkish Olympic champion Mete Gazoz (age 25) has already solidified his status as a top medal contender, boasting three World Cup victories, an individual world championship, and an Olympic title. His trademark celebration, marked by an infectious grin, belies the fierce competitive drive that makes him a formidable archer. Despite his prowess, Gazoz's competitors aim to challenge him at Paris 2024.

Among those challengers is world number one Marcus D'Almeida, who will draw on his past experiences, including a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games Nanjing 2014 and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.

Three-time Olympic medalist Mauro Nespoli will also leverage his extensive experience in pursuit of the individual Olympic title that has eluded him for 16 years. Kim Woojin, leading a strong Republic of Korea team, will aim for his first individual Olympic title, despite being a three-time world champion.

The archery competitions at Paris 2024, both individual and team events, promise to be highly competitive and unpredictable. This excitement extends to the women's events as well. World number one Casey Kaufhold will lead a formidable American team, striving to become the first female individual gold medalist from the USA since Luann Ryon in 1976.

Czech world champion Marie Horáčková, although yet to regain her championship form this season, will use her past experiences to stay composed in Paris. Mexico's Alejandra Valencia, the world championships runner-up, is set to compete in her fourth Olympic Games, hoping the adage "fourth time's a charm" rings true as she pursues her first gold medal.

The Republic of Korea, however, aims to thwart any fairy tale endings for Kaufhold, Horáčková, or Valencia by securing their tenth individual gold medal and defending their team title from Tokyo 2020. Lim Sihyeon will lead a young Korean team, featuring Jeon Hunyoung and Nam Suhyeon, into the competition.