Explained: Qualification process for archery at Paris Olympics

The most formidable nation in the game at the Olympics has been South Korea.

Archery was first introduced in the1900 Paris Olympics but went on to feature only thrice at the 1904 St Louis, 1908 London, and 1920 Antwerp. After a brief gap of 52 years, Archery was again brought back into the Olympics set up at the 1972 Munich games. Since then the sport has featured regularly in all the Olympics held to date.

The team events were first introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and mixed events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Until then only the singles event for both men and women featured.

The most formidable team at the Olympics has been South Korea. To date, South Korea has won 27 gold medals the next best being the USA with 14 gold medals.

In this article, we'll look at the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics:

List of events

Men's - Individual and team

Women's - Individual and team

Mixed - mixed team

On a whole, there are five events set to feature at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Until 2016 only four events took place but since Tokyo, a mixed event has been added to the calendar.

All the archers should achieve the following Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) between 28 July 2023 (the first day of the 2023 World Archery Championships) and 28 June 2024.

Men -  640 points (72 arrows, a distance of 70m)

Women -  610 points ( 72 arrows, a distance of 70m)

The qualification points in the women’s section have been increased by 10 points. For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it was 600 but for the 2024 Paris Olympics, it's been increased to 610 points.

Below is the list of events in the order of precedence. The archers will be given the first priority for the qualification to 2024 Paris Olympics to World Championships then the Continental Games.

1. World Championships
2. Continental Games
3. Continental Qualifiers
4. Final Qualifying Tournament [Team & Individual]
5. World Ranking List

2023 World Archery Championships

Team Qualification

NOCs of the three highest places teams, per gender, will earn three quota places. So the number of archers qualifying will be 9 with 3 teams.

Individual Qualification - 42 athletes (21 per gender)

Three quota places will be allocated to the NOCs of the highest ranked athletes from NOCs which have not qualified through the team competition, with a maximum of one quota place per NOC.

Continental Championships

Team Qualification

The highest ranked team at the Asian Games, European Games, and Pan American Games will get one quota each. So a total of 9 archers from all three continents will earn the quota. 

Individual Qualification

NOCs of the two highest placed athletes from different NOCs in the Continental Games will each earn one quota place in the relevant gender. A NOC shall not obtain more than one quota place per gender at the Continental Games.

Continental Qualification Tournaments - 10 athletes per gender.

Individual Qualification

A Continental Qualification Tournament (CQT) is a separate event, it should be a separate world ranking event held prior to or after continental championships. Both the CQT and the Continental games are totally different and the athletes who qualified at the Continental Games cannot take part in CQT.

Europe: three per gender

Asia: two per gender

Americas: two per gender

Africa: two per gender

Oceania: one per gender

Final World Team qualification event

Team Qualification

This tournament is exclusive for those who have not earned a team quota at the World Championships and the Continental Games. So this event will be held at the last after all the qualifying events are over.

The teams that finish at the top of the podium will be given three quota places.

Individual Qualification

Final World Individual Qualification Tournament – two athletes per gender

A Final World Individual Qualification Tournament (FIQT) is a standalone event, it could be a separate world ranking event held prior to a World Cup stage. NOCs of the two highest ranked athletes per gender at the FIQT will earn one quota place.

The FIQT will be open to all NOCs that have not obtained a quota place per gender through other prior qualification events and will be held at the end of the qualification period.

World Ranking List

Team Qualification

After all the qualifying events are finished there will be two qualifying slots left for the NOCs. The top 2 in the rankings list (those who have not qualified yet) will get the quota.

Host Quota

Host quota will be given three per gender accounting for six archers provided they have to take part in the World Archery Championships. If the host country wins the quota at the World or Continental Games then the leftover quota will be given to the next best-placed teams which will be decided by WA.

Qualification Events

World Archery Championships Berlin, 2023

Asian Games, 2023

Continental Qualifiers, (TBC)

Final Qualifiers, (TBC)