World Archery Federation
The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc) is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 national federations and other archery associations, and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
| Abbreviation | WA (formerly FITA) |
|---|---|
| Formation | 4 September 1931 |
| Type | Federation of national associations |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 159 national and other associations |
Official language | English |
President | Uğur Erdener |
First Vice-president | Mario Scarzella |
| Affiliations | International Olympic Committee, International World Games Association |
| Website | worldarchery.sport |
History
FITA was founded on 4 September 1931 in Lwow, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine). Its seven founding member states were France, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Poland, the United States, Hungary, and Italy.[1] The aim of the organization was to create regular archery championships, and to return archery to the Olympic Games (the sport had not been featured since 1920). FITA was finally successful in returning archery to the Olympic program in the 1972 Summer Olympics.
To celebrate the organization's 80th anniversary in July 2011, a large majority of the FITA Congress voted to change the name from FITA to the World Archery Federation or WA.[2]
In March 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Federation announced that no athlete, team official, or technical official from Russia or Belarus will be permitted to participate in any international archery event, their flags and anthems are banned, and no archery events would be held in the two countries.[3]
In July 2023, on the question that whether or not to re-allow athletics with Russian and/or Belarusian passports to participant international archery competitions under neutral identities, World Archery asked both national archery federations to submit personal datas for investigations, as both federations denied to complete such requirements, WA said that it's unlikely to allow neutral athletes unless once procedure can be completely followed.[4]
In December 2023, World Archery launched its own OTT Service with an Subscription Video On Demand model and live streaming of main events.[5]
Identity
Member associations
As of April 2019, 159 national federations and other associations are members of World Archery.[8]
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Armenia
- American Samoa
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Belarus
- Bhutan
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Brazil
- British Virgin Islands
- Bulgaria
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Costa Rica
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- DR Congo
- Denmark
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Great Britain
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hong Kong, China
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Macedonia
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Norfolk Island
- North Korea
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tahiti
- Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United States
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- US Virgin Islands
- Zimbabwe
Rankings
World Archery publishes world rankings for each category of outdoor competitive archery (men / women; recurve / compound; individual / team / mixed team), updated following every official eligible event.[9]
Each archer earns a ranking score for each competition. The ranking scores are calculated through a combination of the ranking factor of the tournament (as determined by the quality of competition, the number of competitors, and how recently the competition took place) and points based on the competitor's final position in the competition. The archer's four highest ranking scores are then combined to form their 'Added Ranking Score', which forms the basis of the ranking list.[10]
Current rankings
Current number one ranked archers
- Updated 2 May 2024
| Discipline | Men | Men's Team | Women | Women's Team | Mixed Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recurve | Marcus D'Almeida (BRA) | South Korea | Casey Kaufhold (USA) | South Korea | South Korea |
| Compound | Mike Schloesser (NED) | India | Ella Gibson (GBR) | India | United States |
Summary Championships
The following table shows the venue of all World Championships on the current World Archery programme:
| Denotes inaugural event |
Events
Summer Olympics
Archery was first competed at the Summer Olympic Games in 1900 and, after a long hiatus from 1924, became a regular event from 1972. Team events were added in 1988. Recurve archery is currently the only discipline competed at the Olympics.
Archery is also competed at the Summer Paralympics (recurve and compound disciplines), the Youth Olympic Games (recurve only), and the World Games (Field archery only).
World Championships
- World Target Championships
- World Outdoor Archery Championships
- World Indoor Archery Championships
- World Field Archery Championships
- World 3D Archery Championships
- World Ski Archery Championships
- World Para Archery Championships
- World Youth Archery Championships
- World University Archery Championships
FITA began holding Target World Championships in 1931. They were held every year until 1959, when the Championships became biennial events. 1959 was also the first year that FITA held the World Field Championship.
Presently, there are five principal formats of the World Archery Championships: Outdoor, Indoor, Youth, Para-Archery, and Field. Each is held every two years on different rotations. World Championships are also held every two years in 3D archery and University sport. In 2007, a ski archery World Championships was held in Moscow; this is yet to be repeated and is not included in the current rotation.[12]
| Number | Events | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Outdoor Target Championships | 1931 | 2019 (50th) |
| 2 | World Indoor Target Championships | 1991 | 2018 (14th) |
| 3 | World Field Archery Championships | 1969 | 2018 (26th) |
| 4 | World 3D Archery Championships | 2003 | 2019 (9th) |
| 5 | World Ski Archery Championships | 1999 | 2017 (10th) |
| 6 | World Para Archery Championships | 1998 | 2019 (12th) |
| 7 | World Youth Archery Championships | 1991 | 2019 (16th) |
| 8 | World University Archery Championships | 1996 | 2016 (11th) |
World Cup
The Archery World Cup is an annual event that was inaugurated in 2006. It is designed to present archery in 'spectacular' locations.[13]
The format consists of 4 rounds competed across the world during a calendar year. The best individual and mixed team performers across these rounds are then invited to compete in the World Cup Final at the end of the year.[14]
An indoor World Cup, competed in 3 rounds with a final during the winter season, was inaugurated in the 2010–11 season.
Other
Archery is an optional sport at the Universiade and the Commonwealth Games.
Current champions
The following archers are the current champions of the major World Archery Federation events:
| Discipline | Event | Summer Olympics 2020 (postponed to 2021) |
World Championships 2023 |
World Cup Series Final 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recurve | Men's Individual | Mete Gazoz (TUR) | Mete Gazoz (TUR) | Marcus D'Almeida (BRA) |
| Women's Individual | An San (KOR) | Marie Horáčková (CZE) | Kang Chae-young (KOR) | |
| Men's Team | South Korea (KOR) Kim Je-deok Kim Woo-jin Oh Jin-hyek |
South Korea (KOR) Kim Je-deok Kim Woo-jin Lee Woo-seok |
||
| Women's Team | South Korea (KOR) An San Jang Min-hee Kang Chae-young |
Germany (GER) Katharina Bauer Michelle Kroppen Charline Schwarz | ||
| Mixed Team | South Korea (KOR) An San Kim Je-deok |
South Korea Lim Si-hyeon Kim Woo-jin | ||
| Compound | Men's Individual | Ojas Pravin Deotale (IND) | Mathias Fullerton (DEN) | |
| Women's Individual | Aditi Gopichand Swami (IND) | Sara López (COL) | ||
| Men's Team | Poland Rafał Dobrowolski Przemysław Konecki Łukasz Przybylski |
|||
| Women's Team | India Parneet Kaur Aditi Gopichand Swami Jyothi Surekha Vennam | |||
| Mixed Team | United States Alexis Ruiz Sawyer Sullivan | |||
Presidents
| Period | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Mieczysław Fularski | Poland |
| 1931 – 1939 | Bronisław Pierzchała | Poland |
| 1946 – 1949 | Paul Demare | France |
| 1949 – 1957 | Henry Kjellson | Sweden |
| 1957 – 1961 | Oscar Kessels | Belgium |
| 1961 – 1977 | Inger Kristine Frith | United Kingdom |
| 1977 – 1989 | Francesco Gnecchi-Ruscone | Italy |
| 1989 – 2005 | James L. Easton | United States |
| 2005 – | Uğur Erdener | Turkey |
References
- "History of World Archery". World Archery Federation. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- Mieville, Didier. "Darrell Pace Named Athlete of Century; FITA Becomes World Archery Federation". World Archery Communications. FITA Communication. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- "Russia and Belarus prohibited from participating in international events". World Archery.
- "Update on eligibility of athletes with Russian/Belarusian passport issued at World Archery Congress". World Archery. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- Kasule, Melissa (12 December 2023). "World Archery taps Joymo to launch dedicated OTT platform - Digital TV Europe". Digital TV Europe. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- "Olympic qualification procedure released for archery at Paris 2024". World Archery. 12 April 2022.
- "Book 1, Chapter 1, Art. 1.26.2" (PDF). Southern Counties Archery Society. 15 September 2016.
- "Members". World Archery. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
- "Search". Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- "Search" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- "World Rankings - World Archery". worldarchery.org.
- "World Archery > WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS > World Championships Home". Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- "Search". Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- Archived 8 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Official website
- Archery.tv (Official Streaming Service)
- History of FITA 1931-1961 by Robert Rhode
- Archery Champions by Robert Rhode