Eight recurve teams planned for LA28 Olympics to protect diversity

World Archery’s executive board has approved several changes to rules and processes for upcoming international archery events by postal vote.

These include the principle of reducing the number of recurve teams at the next Olympics from 12 to eight, deferring the introduction of the minimum standard on the Hyundai Archery World Cup, and postponing the awarding date of events due to be allocated in 2025 into 2026.

It was announced in April that compound will make its Olympic debut at LA28. Twelve mixed teams (24 athletes in total) will compete for the first-ever compound medal at the next Games.

While archery gains an additional bowstyle, event and medal, the limitation on total athlete quota remains at 128 (64 men and 64 women), and the sport is required to maintain universality with a high level of participant diversity across nations and continents.

World Archery will propose to the International Olympic Committee to include eight recurve teams, for LA28 only, to open individual slots to a wider range of nations and protect the universality of the competition.

“The addition of compound for the LA28 Olympics, with its sixth medal, is a resounding success for the sport,” said World Archery secretary general Tom Dielen.

“In order to run the extra event within our existing quota, an adjustment to the format is necessary to ensure as many world-class countries as possible still have an opportunity to compete in Los Angeles.” 

Discussion on quotas and the format for future Games is already underway.

Since its launch in 2006, the Hyundai Archery World Cup has been a primary driver for the professionalism of the sport, showcasing the best of competition in world-class venues around the globe.

Participation numbers have grown significantly, putting pressure on organisers and venues, with the percentage of archers reaching the latter stages of an event falling.

Following development of the world ranking procedures to also emphasise second- and third-tier event participation, plans were announced to introduce a minimum qualifying standard for World Cup tournaments from the start of 2026.

Following feedback from teams and athletes over the first two stages of this season, this has been postponed. Instead, the board has decided to conduct a comprehensive analysis on an entry standard until the end of next season, with a decision due to be taken for 2027.

This will ensure that any system will address key considerations raised in feedback, including accommodating external factors like injury, pregnancy, age group changes, while taking into account the broader impact on processes like votes in Congress, team management and competition pathway.

The analysis will be conducted in collaboration with the coach and athletes committees, which will result in a revised proposal that better aligns with the needs of all stakeholders while continuing to support the professionalisation of archery’s top-tier events.

An update to the Hyundai Archery World Cup Rules will be issued shortly.

The bidding periods for key events including World Cup stages in 2029-31, the 2029 World Archery Championships and the 2029 World Archery Congress were due to be allocated at the end of 2025.

These hosting rights will now not be awarded until 2026.

This decision is in consideration of the upcoming presidential election, which will take place at the 2025 World Archery Congress in Gwangju (Korea), to allow the successful candidate and newly formed executive board the proper time to evaluate applications.

Meanwhile, the board did accept bids from events in Brazil and Mexico to join the next Indoor Archery World Series, with more information to follow alongside the circuit rules and calendar.

A decision was also taken on the participation of AIN teams at the world youth championships.

Archers holding a passport from Russia or Belarus who are cleared to compete under the current procedure for assessing neutrality will be permitted to participate in the mixed team and team events at the 2025 World Archery Youth Championships in Winnipeg (Canada) under the names ‘AIN-A‘ and ‘AIN-B’.

The current ban, which permits only individual competition for cleared athletes, remains in place for all other World Archery events.