China Archery

I. Time & Venue
The Archery events of Second Youth Olympic Games will be held in the Archery Field of the Fangshan Sports Training Base from 22 to 26 August, 2014.
II. Events
One men’s event, one women’s event and one mixed team event.
III. Number of Athletes
64 athletes including 32 males and 32 females
IV. Medals
Athletes and teams that finish in the top three places in the individual and team events will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.
View and download the detail of “Sport Explanatory Brochure Archery – 2014 Youth Olympic Games” below (PDF file, total 19 pages):
Archery (Nanjing yough olympic games organising committee 2014)
Source: nanjing2014.org

On the morning of October 13, the World Archery Youth Championships 2013 Wuxi (CHN) was officially started in the Wuxi Sports Center. Tom Dylan, Secretary General of the International Archery Federation, Carlos, Tournament Director of the International Archery Federation, Gao Zhidan, Chairperson of the Chinese Archery Association, Zeng Zhigang, Director of the Shooting and Archery Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of China, Deputy Directors of the Shooting and Archery Sports Management Center of the General Administration of

World Archery Youth Championships 2013

Sports of China Lang Wei and Wang Yifu, Yin Baolin, Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Sports, Wang Quan, Acting Mayor of Wuxi, Wang Guozhong, a member of the Wuxi Municipal Party Standing Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department of the Wuxi Municipal Party Committee, Hua Boya, Deputy Mayor of Wuxi, and Wu Fengfeng, Secretary General of the Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, attended the opening ceremony. Officials of the organizing committee of the competition, principals of relevant departments, athletes, coaches and judges also took part in the ceremony.

Wang Quan, Acting Mayor of Wuxi, declared the official opening of the competition, and Wang Guozhong, a member of the Wuxi Municipal Party Standing Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department of the Wuxi Municipal Party Committee, delivered a speech to welcome all participants. It was learnt that over 800 athletes, officials and team followers from more than 60 countries took part in the competition, which was an international contest with the most participating counties and contestants as well as the biggest scale in the sports history of Wuxi. The competition was held in Wuxi, which will have a far-reaching significance in speeding up the construction of a “Four-type Wuxi” and improving Wuxi’s popularity and reputation. As the host, Wuxi will elaborately organize, carefully prepare, offer high-quality service, and try best to hold a youthful, vigorous, harmonious and advanced sports cultural gala.
Source:Wuxi News

Putting down his cigarette, Beijing native Chen Ning arches his back to stretch and then nonchalantly exhales a tube of

Chinese archers are targeting more publicity to help their sport grow. Photo by Li Hao,GT

smoke as he draws back the bowstring. Ping goes the release followed by a whoosh and then a thud in quick succession. It’s all one sound. He takes another arrow from the miniature golf-bag sized fanny pack drooped around his waist and takes aim: Ping-whoosh-thud… bull’s eye. That’s 10 points on the target. Chen, 33, revisits the cigarette once again, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“China is not taking care of archery at all. It’s really quite pathetic,” Chen fumes between drags. Chen is one of roughly 1,000 fee-paying members at Beijing’s Sunny Focus Sports Club in Sanyuanqiao, Chaoyang district. It’s one of the few places with comprehensive indoor archery facilities in the city center.

Chen says that despite the large number of archery lovers in China, the government is doing very little in terms of funding and promotion for the sport. He laments that archery still falls short of making broadcast schedules for terrestrial television. “It’s not exactly like football,” he notes glumly.

In some ways, it is surprising that Chinese archery has not become a hit with the public. The sport received a natural upsurge in popularity during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when Shandong native Zhang Juanjuan became the first non-Korean since 1984 to win gold in the women’s individual event. Last summer in London, archer Dai Xiaoxiang became the first Chinese male to win a medal in the men’s individual event.

But for those smitten with the primitive weapon, widespread media coverage once every four years is nowhere near enough. According to Chen, compared with other countries, archery in China has yet to receive sufficient media exposure to entice sponsorship money that could help recruit and nurture talent at club level. Apart from the national teams, the sport is still very much a self-funded amateur endeavor. Clubs like Sunny Focus are thriving on the passion of their members.

“We spend our own money to take part in our own competitions,” Chen says. “The entrance fees pay for the trophies awarded to the winners.”
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