Archery’s LA28 Olympic Games qualification pathway released

The qualification system for the archery competitions at the LA28 Olympics has been released by the International Olympic Committee – marking compound archers’ pathway to the Games for the very first time.

It outlines how National Olympic Committees will secure athlete quota places for the LA Games, which will take place from 14 to 30 July 2028.

A total of 128 archers – 64 men and 64 women – will compete at LA28.

The programme introduces compound archery through the mixed team event, increasing archery’s programme to six medal events in LA, compared to the five at Paris 2024: recurve men’s and women’s individual and team competitions, plus mixed team events in both recurve and compound.

A total of 12 compound mixed teams will qualify for the event.

The recurve team field has been reduced from 12 to eight teams per gender at LA28, removing world ranking allocation for recurve team quotas and placing greater emphasis on performances at world championships, continental events and final qualification tournaments.

Individual recurve quota places remain at 28 per gender, maintaining fair opportunities for athlete qualification through multiple competition pathways.

Of the 128 athlete quota places available, 116 will be allocated through the qualification system. Eight places are reserved for the host country and four universality places are withheld to ensure global representation.

Quota places are allocated to National Olympic Committees rather than individual athletes, with a maximum of three athletes per gender allowed for recurve for nations qualifying a team, or one athlete for those qualifying only for individual events.

The qualification period officially begins at the 2027 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Medellin (Colombia), although some places will be won at multisport events – like the Asian Games – held before.

A final Olympic qualification event will be held just before the Games in 2028.

Athletes must achieve minimum qualification scores at World Archery registered events during the qualification period to be eligible for Olympic participation.

The required scores for recurve have been raised by 10 points to 650 for men and 620 for women over the 70-metre qualifying round, while the minimum standards for compound have been set at 690 for men and 670 for women over the 50-metre 72-arrow qualifying round.

The USA is guaranteed recurve team places per gender and one compound mixed team place as host nation, provided participation requirements are met. Universality places will be allocated to ensure representation from National Olympic Committees with historically smaller Olympic delegations.

The path to LA28 begins in 2027.

LA28 quotas

The eight recurve team quotas (24 places) per gender will be awarded across three competition phases and to the host nation.

• 3 teams (9 places) – top three teams at the World Archery Championships
• 3 teams (9 places) – continental champions in Europe, Asia and the Americas
• 1 team (3 places) – top team at the final team qualification tournament
• 1 team (3 places) – host nation, subject to participation requirements

The 28 individual recurve quotas per gender will be awarded across five competition phases and via universality invitation.

• 3 places – highest-ranked athletes from non-qualified teams at the World Archery Championships
• 5 places – champions of the recurve mixed team events at continental Games in Europe, Africa, Americas, Oceania and Asia
• 6 places – top two athletes at the continental Games in Europe, Asia and the Americas
• 10 places – top athletes at standalone continental qualification tournaments (three places in Europe; two places in Asia, Americas and Africa; one place in Oceania)
• 2 places – top two athletes at the final qualification tournament
• 2 places – universality invitations 

The 12 compound mixed team quotas (24 places) will be awarded across three competition phases, to the host nation and via the world ranking.

• 3 teams (3 places per gender) – top three mixed teams at the World Archery Championships
• 5 teams (5 places per gender) – champions of the mixed team events at continental Games in Europe, Africa, Americas, Oceania and Asia
• 2 teams (2 places per gender) – next-highest-ranked teams on the compound mixed team world ranking list
• 1 team (1 place per gender) – host nation, subject to participation requirements
• 1 team (1 place per gender) – top team at the final compound mixed team qualification tournament