Archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's individual explained

Event:Women's individual
Games:2012 Summer
Venue:Lord's Cricket Ground
Dates:27 July – 2 August 2012
Competitors:64
Nations:40
Gold:Ki Bo-bae
Goldnoc:KOR
Silver:Aída Román
Silvernoc:MEX
Bronze:Mariana Avitia
Bronzenoc:MEX
Prev:2008
Next:2016

The women's individual archery event at the 2012 Olympic Games was held from 27 July to 2 August 2012 at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in the United Kingdom. The event was one of four which comprised the 2012 Olympic archery programme of sports and was the eleventh time the women's individual competition was contested as an Olympic event. Forty nations qualified for the competition, sending a total of sixty-four archers to compete. The defending Olympic champion from 2008 was Zhang Juanjuan of China, who did not compete following her retirement in 2010.[1] [2]

Ki Bo-Bae of South Korea won the gold medal, defeating Mexico's Aída Román in a one-arrow shoot-off to become her nation's seventh female archer to become individual Olympic champion. Mariana Avitia of Mexico finished third, defeating Khatuna Lorig of the United States to win the bronze medal. Román and Avitia became the first Mexican archers to ever win an Olympic medal.

Background

The women's individual event has been held as part of every Summer Olympics archery programme since the 1972 Games in Munich. Since the 1984 Summer Olympics, archers from South Korea had dominated the event, claiming six of the previous seven gold medals. Their winning streak was broken at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when Zhang Juanjuan defeated defending Olympic champion Park Sung-hyun in the final, becoming the first non-South Korean archer to win the women's individual gold medal since Keto Losaberidze of the Soviet Union in 1980.[3]

In October 2011 an official test event, the London Archery Classic, was held at the Lord's Cricket Ground to evaluate the venue's preparations and give archers and coaches the chance to familiarise themselves with the location and schedule ahead of the Games the following year. Jung Dasomi of South Korea, who held the top position in the World Archery rankings, won the women's individual event, defeating Poland's Justyna Mospinek in the final. Ki Bo-bae of South Korea won the bronze medal ahead of Japan's Ren Hayakama.[4]

Qualification

See main article: Archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

Sixty-four places were available for the event with each National Olympic Committee (NOC) being represented by a maximum of three archers. Qualification was primarily achieved through the World Archery Championships held in Turin in July 2011, with the remaining places allocated to the nations of most successful athletes at a series of continental championships held between October 2011 and May 2012. As host nation Great Britain qualified three places automatically; ten other nations (China, Denmark, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Ukraine) additionally qualified the maximum berth of archers.[5]

Great Britain's national selection trials saw Olympic debutante Amy Oliver and two-time Olympian Naomi Folkard succeed to partner 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Alison Williamson, who became the third British athlete to be selected for a sixth Olympic Games, having made her debut at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[6] Chekrovolu Swuro and the highly rated 18-year old Deepika Kumari joined 2008 Olympian Bombayla Devi Laishram to spearhead the Indian contingent, the trio having together won silver medal in the women's team event at the 2011 World Archery Championships after defeating the reigning champions South Korea in the semi-finals.[7]

Format

The women's individual was an outdoor recurve target archery event. Held under the World Archery-approved rules, archers shot at a 122 cm-wide target from a distance of 70 metres with between one and ten points being awarded for each arrow depending on how close it landed to the centre of the target. The competition consisted of three stages: an initial ranking round, five elimination rounds, and two finals matches deciding the medal placings. In the ranking round, each of the 64 archers entering the competition shot a total of 72 arrows. The total score of each archer was used to seed the archers into the following five-round single-elimination tournament according to their finishing position, the highest-scoring archer receiving the number one seed.[8]

The elimination rounds introduced a new format, the Archery Olympic Round, to the Olympic Games. From 1992 until 2008, the elimination matches were decided by each archer shooting 12 arrows, the highest cumulative score determining who progressed to the next round. Approved in 2009 by the sport's governing body, the World Archery Federation, the new Archery Olympic Round was designed to sustain audience interest throughout the knockout matches and prevent encounters from being decided prematurely from a single poor shot. According to the new system, each match consisted of a maximum of five sets, with archers each shooting three arrows per set. The archer with the best score from their three arrows won the set, earning two points. The archer with the lowest score in each set received zero points. If the score was tied, each archer received one point. The first archer to six points was declared the winner. If the match was tied 5-5 after the maximum 5 sets were played, a single tie-breaker arrow was used with the closest to centre of the target winning.[9]

Schedule

DateTimeStage
0Friday, 27 July 2012 13:00–15:00 Ranking round
3Monday, 30 July 2012 09:00–12:55
15:00–17:40
1/32 elimination round
1/16 elimination round
4 Tuesday, 31 July 2012
5 Wednesday, 1 August 2012
6 Thursday, 2 August 2012 09:00–10:44 1/8 elimination round
14:00–14:52 Quarter-finals
14:52–15:05 Semi-finals
15:21–15:50 Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
All times are British Summer Time .
Source:
[10]

Report

Pre-event

In a preview of the archery competitions published a couple of weeks before the beginning of the Games, the Korea Herald expressed some reservation about the chances of a South Korean victory in the women's individual event. Although they suggested the women's team should be "supremely confident" of a gold medal in their event, the failure to win the individual gold medal in 2008 and the rise of India's Deepika Kumari were highlighted as concerns going forward into the event.[1] Kumari, who was cited by the Hindustan Times as India's best chance at winning an individual archery medal, in turn was confident that her experience against the Koreans in Archery World Cup matches would serve her well. Speaking at a ceremony marking the departure of athletes to London, she added that her recently acquired status of world number one would only be justified if she came away from the Games having earned an Olympic medal.[7] [11]

Ranking round

The competition began with the ranking round in the afternoon of Friday 27 July, preceding the opening ceremony held later that evening. Ki Bo-bae, Lee Sung-jin, and Tan Ya-ting each tied on 671 points and were only separated by the number of arrows landing in the 10-ring, Ki claiming number one seed with thirty-one 10-scores ahead of Lee and Tan. South Korea's third archer Choi Hyeon-ju struggled with nerves on her Olympic debut and finished 21st overall after being ranked 38th at the round's halfway point.[12] Despite claiming two of the highest seeds for the elimination rounds, Jang Young-sool, the head of the South Korean archery coaching team, was nevertheless disappointed that his archers did not post higher scores.[13] The three British archers had a disappointing ranking round on home soil, Naomi Folkard finishing highest, claiming the 42nd seed.[14]

Elimination rounds

World number one Deepika Kumari suffered a shock defeat in the opening elimination round which began on the morning of 30 July, losing to 57th seed Amy Oliver of Great Britain in four sets. Kumari blamed the strong winds for her performance and did not appear comfortable in the cool and overcast conditions, failing to shoot a single arrow in the 10-ring. Her defeat was described by the Press Trust of India as a big setback in India's pursuit of Olympic medals, while the BBC lauded Oliver's victory as her greatest career win. Oliver would later lose to Indonesia's Ika Yuliana Rochmawati in the following round.[15] [16] Oliver's teammates Alison Williamson and Folkard fared little better in front of the home crowd, Williamson losing in the first knockout round to Bishindee Urantungalag of Mongolia, while Folkard was eliminated by Mexico's Mariana Avitia in the 1/16 elimination round.[17] The first elimination round also saw Bhutan's participation at the Olympic Games end with Serhab Zam's defeat to Lorig of the United States, the nation having sent just two athletes to London.[18]

The final rounds took place on Thursday, 2 August. In the 1/8 elimination round Bérengère Schuh, the sole Frenchwoman in the field, defeated Choi in a one-arrow shoot-off after the South Korean came back from four set points down to tie the match in the fifth set.With windy conditions developing in the afternoon in time for the quarter-finals, Lorig defeated Schuh after a poor third set by the Frenchwoman, who was unable to fully master the conditions, while Avitia emerged as the surprise victor against second-seed Lee.[19] Lee's exit marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that South Korea failed to win at least two medals in the women's individual event.[20]

Ki, the sole South Korean to advance to the semi-finals, dispatched Khatuna Lorig following an upgraded score of one of her arrows after a review in the fourth set.[21] The second semi-final featured Avitia and Román, guaranteeing at least one medal for the Mexican archery contingent. Román advanced to the final against Ki, while Avitia went on to contest the bronze medal match with Lorig.

Medal matches

Avitia appeared more comfortable with the shifting winds in the bronze medal match, which began just after 3:20pm on 2 August, scoring a perfect 30 in the first set and ultimately winning in four sets after Lorig shot a six with her final arrow. Lorig nevertheless managed a shot so precise to the centre of the target that the arrow bounced off the target after striking the camera hole.[22] Three years later the American reflected that she did not have enough time to recover from her semi-final loss to Ki and was unable to properly focus against Avitia, beginning the bronze medal match just fifteen minutes after bowing out of the semi-finals. She commented "I was so upset not making that gold medal match... [i]t happened so quick, I didn’t have time to talk to anyone. There was no one to tell me, 'Hey, snap out of it.'"[23] Avitia's victory gave Mexico its first ever Olympic archery medal.

The gold medal match between Ki and Román was a close affair. After winning one set apiece with a tie in the second set, Ki shot a perfect 30 in the fourth, only for Román to outscore Ki 27–26 in the fifth and final set, necessitating a shoot-off. Both Ki and Román landed their arrows into the 8-ring, but Ki's was judged to be marginally closer to the centre, giving her the victory.[24] [25]

Ki's win was the seventh time in eight Olympic women's individual events that South Korea had claimed the top honour, and the fourteenth archery gold medal from a possible fifteen for the country since the 1984 Summer Olympics.[22] [24] A tearful Ki later apologised during a press conference after she had been awarded her the gold medal, stating that "Koreans do not shoot eights".[26] Román and Avitia meanwhile received a call from the President of Mexico congratulating them on achieving their nation's debut Olympic archery medals.[26] Their double success was the first time since the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that Mexican athletes had won two medals in the same discipline at the same Games, and the first time that it had been achieved by Mexican women.[20]

Records

!!Archer!Score!Location!Date!Ref
World record682Gwangju, South Korea12 August 2004[27]
Olympic record673Atlanta, United States28 July 1996

Both the Olympic record score of 673, set by Ukraine's Lina Herasymenko at the 1996 Summer Olympics and equalled by South Korea's Park Sung-hyun at the 2008 Summer Olympics,[28] and the existing world record score of 682, set by Park one day before the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, remained intact at the conclusion of the event.

Results

Ranking round

RankArcherHalfScore
1st2nd
1 3393326713113
2 338333671304
3 337334671288
4 331338669324
5 338329667338
6 335330665307
7 332331663268
8 327335662258
9 329330659287
10 334325659208
11 329329658289
12 3273306572514
13 324333657244
14 331325656248
15 328326654277
16 3243306542412
17 323330653247
18 3333196522510
19 328324652248
20 326325651256
21 321330651239
22 327324651204
23 325325650308
24 322328650235
25 326323649205
26 324324648216
27 318328646258
28 321325646254
29 318327645234
30 321324645224
31 321324645185
32 323322645185
33 327317644156
34 320322642156
35 325317642152
36 310331641246
37 319321640247
38 322317639205
39 317321638154
40 318320638146
41 321317638143
42 317320637215
43 323313636218
44 311324635217
45 317317634173
46 319312631165
47 310319629165
48 318309627174
49 311314625205
50 309316625199
51 305319624166
52 304317621215
53 306312618154
54 309305614152
55 30530961490
56 314297611123
57 303305608135
58 298303601133
59 295304599104
60 30229759993
61 28630358973
62 25427452881
63 25326752062
64 25024849891
Source:[29]

Elimination rounds

[30]

Section 4

Note: A superscript denotes a win from a one-arrow shoot-off

Finals

[31]

Note: A superscript denotes a win from a one-arrow shoot-off

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Korean archers set to run over rivals. The Korea Herald. Reuters. 10 July 2012. 1 August 2019.
  2. Web site: Best Olympic Archers of All-Time: #15 Zhang JuanJuan. World Archery. John. Stanley. 31 March 2016. 4 August 2019.
  3. News: London 2012: Secrets behind South Korea's archery success. BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Matt. Monaghan. 20 July 2012. 22 July 2019.
  4. Web site: Jung takes gold at the London Archery Classic. World Archery. Lausanne. 9 October 2011. 1 August 2019.
  5. Web site: Entries by NOC. World Archery. PDF. 5–8. 27 July 2012. 1 August 2012.
  6. Web site: London 2012 Olympics: Alison Williamson selected for sixth Games as Team GB confirms archers. The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 9 May 2012. 2 October 2019.
  7. Web site: The powerpuff girls. Hindustan Times. Nilankur. Das. 27 July 2012. 2 October 2019.
  8. Web site: Women's Individual - Individual Competition Format. London 2012 Organising Committee. https://web.archive.org/web/20120723153101/http://www.london2012.com/archery/event/women-individual/competition-format. 23 July 2012. 13 June 2012.
  9. Web site: The Set System—a new era in World Archery competition. World Archery. George. Tekmitchov. 14 June 2010. 4 August 2019.
  10. News: London 2012 Olympics: Archery schedule. The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 15 February 2011. 1 August 2019.
  11. Web site: Deepika Kumari says medal matters more than ranking. India Today. Rahul. Rawat. 3 July 2012. 2 October 2019.
  12. Web site: Korea women archers on target but U.S. in the hunt. Reuters. Peter. Rutherford. 27 July 2012. 4 August 2019.
  13. Web site: S. Korea men, women earn high seeds in archery. The Korea Herald. Yonhap News Agency. Hyun-hee. Shin. 28 July 2012. 4 August 2019.
  14. News: Archery: Team GB women disappoint in ranking round. The Independent. Press Association. Rory. Dollard. 27 July 2012. 1 August 2019.
  15. News: Indian challenge ends with Deepika’s shock exit. The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 2 August 2012. 1 August 2019.
  16. Web site: Olympics Archery: Amy Oliver out in last 32 despite shock win. BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 August 2012. 27 July 2019.
  17. News: London 2012 Olympics: Alison Williamson and Naomi Folkard crash out of the archery. The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Jessica. Winch. 31 July 2012. 27 July 2019.
  18. News: Bhutan bow out of London Olympics after archery defeat. The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Eddie. Butler. 1 August 2012. 4 August 2019.
  19. Web site: JO de Londres: Schuh cale en quart, l'Or pour Ki Bo Bae, l'Argent et le Bronze pour les Mexicaines Roman et Avitia. fr. London Olympics: Schuh held in quarterfinals, Gold for Ki Bo Bae, Silver and Bronze for Mexicans Roman and Avitia. Fédération Française de Tir à L'Arc. 2 August 2012. 6 August 2019.
  20. Web site: Archery Key Facts and Numbers. World Archery. 2 August 2012. 6 August 2019.
  21. News: Day 6: Women’s gymnastics all-around, Phelps vs. Lochte. The Washington Post. Camille. Kilgore. Matt. Brooks. 10:13am. 2 August 2012. 6 August 2019.
  22. News: Ki Bo Bae wins archery gold; American Khatuna Lorig falters late to lose bronze. The Washington Post. Tracee. Hamilton. 2 August 2012. 6 August 2019.
  23. Web site: Archer Khatuna Lorig Still Hungers For Gold. Team USA. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Karen. Rosen. 26 May 2015. 17 September 2019.
  24. Web site: Archery: Korean Ki wins gold in final shoot-off. Reuters. Peter. Rutherford. 2 August 2012. 1 August 2019.
  25. News: Olimpiadas 2012: Mexicanas hacen el 2-3 histórico en tiro con arco (fotos). es. 2012 Olympics: Mexicanas make historic 2-3 in archery (photos). La Opinión. Agencia EFE. 2 August 2012. 4 August 2019.
  26. News: The story of London 2012: Guardian writers' Olympic Games review . The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Eddie. Butler. 12 August 2012. 27 July 2019.
  27. Web site: World Archery Records. World Archery. 20 July 2019.
  28. Web site: Record for Park as Brits impress. BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 August 2008. 26 July 2019.
  29. Web site: Archery Women's Individual Ranking Round Results. World Archery. PDF. 27 July 2012. 1 August 2019.
  30. Web site: London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited . Summer Olympic Games official report London 2012 . 11 September 2022.
  31. Web site: C73C_0_W . 11 September 2022.