10 October 2011 - Lord's passes the Archery test

Lord's passes the Archery test London – 10 October 2011  The London Archery Classic, a test event for the London 2012 Olympic Games, concluded today leaving organisers satisfied with preparations and celebrating two world records broken by Korean athlete IM Dong-Hyun.   The event, which was held at the iconic cricket venue Lord’s as part of the London Prepares Series, has been used to test key operations by the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG), including testing the sporting field of play, results and workforce.   A new scoring system which will debut for the first time at an Olympic Games next year was also successfully tested along with the running of the competition on a single competition range during the elimination rounds.   The World Archery recognised international tournament saw some of the world’s best archers battle it out for success on the Lord’s hallowed turf. Korea’s IM Dong-Hyun stood out with exceptional performances throughout the eight-day competition breaking his own 72-arrow world record in the ranking round, scoring 693 and exceeding his previous record by two points.   This was then followed by IM and his teammates setting a world record in the men’s team competition. The Korean team recorded a joint score of 233 photo, breaking the previous mark by two points as they beat Australia in the quarterfinal. They had to settle for bronze, however, losing out to the USA in the semifinal, who went on to win the competition.    IM Dong-Hyun said after his setting the new world record in the ranking round: "I'm very happy. I did not expect to break the world record, but I knew with three arrows remaining that it was possible. I wasn't nervous, I just tried to focus. This is a good way to start preparation for the Olympic Games next year. It is an honour to shoot in a historic and traditional stadium. The conditions here were perfect."   World Archery General Secretary Tom DIELEN said: "World Archery is very excited about holding Olympic Archery in this fantastic venue. The athletes, staff and volunteers all fell in love with Lord's and we can't wait for Lord's to become the home of archery next summer.   "Our top athletes have shown what they are capable of and we will now continue to work with LOCOG and Marylebone Cricket Club to make this the best ever Olympic Games for archery. London will be ready and we look forward to a great event next year."  Debbie JEVANS, LOCOG’s Director of Sport, said of the event: "With eight full days of competition our teams have worked tirelessly to ensure the event has run smoothly and we have taken the opportunity to test our operations at Lord’s ahead of the Games. We will now go away and speak with the athletes and teams to get their feedback and look at whether we need to make any changes. One big difference next year is that we will have spectators right next to the field of play which will enhance the atmosphere. I would like to thank World Archery and also the MCC and the team at Lord’s Cricket Ground for making the event such a success."   An image of how Lord's Cricket Ground may look during the London 2012 Archery competition can be downloaded here.   For more information and full results visit the London Prepares website www.londonpreparesseries.com.   For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com.   Source: LOCOG Edited by World Archery Communication