World Archery Executive Board meets in Olympic Capital

The World Archery Executive Board conducted its first in-person meeting since September’s Hyundai World Archery Championships on 14-15 December in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Sessions took place at the Olympic Museum and Olympic House, the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, where the board was welcomed by IOC President Kirsty Coventry and Sports Director Pierre Ducrey.

The board was also joined by officials from local authorities and across international sport for an official reception at the World Archery Excellence Centre.

“It was important for our first full meeting to take place in Lausanne, at the heart of the Olympic Movement, as our new board emphasises collaboration and openness with key stakeholders,” said World Archery President Greg Easton.

“Thank you to President Coventry for the warm welcome to Olympic House, and thank you to the executive board for a positive first meeting. I am confident that through continued proactive and transparent discussion, we can deliver long-term value for our member associations.”

Emphasis at the two-day meeting was on archery’s long-term growth, increasing participation, and a renewed focus on development projects that directly benefit member associations, starting with the recent creation of a development and education department.

The archery events at upcoming Olympic Games were high on the meeting agenda.

There was significant discussion on the LA28 competition format, following a consultation with member associations to assess replacing the three-person team event with a two-person doubles competition.

No change will be made for LA. The future viability of a doubles event was tabled for further discussion.

The board also assessed a draft qualification system for the upcoming Olympic Games, which will now be shared with the sports department of the International Olympic Committee for review. The qualification system is ultimately approved by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee.

A process for assigning quota places for Dakar was approved, following exceptionally high demand during the request period, as well as the proposed team of technical officials.

Recommendations from the recent Olympic Summit were discussed, including the AIN status of archers with passports from Russia and Belarus.

The board decided to adopt the International Olympic Committee recommendation to allow archers in the under-21 and below age groups to compete without restriction while retaining the AIN designation and without any national identification, including uniform, flag and anthem.

A new archery federation in Suriname was recommended for temporary affiliation.

Editorial bylaws arising from rule changes made at the recent World Archery Congress were approved in block, as well as the following committee proposals:

• The teal target face trialled at the World Games is approved for use in all field archery events and mandatory at world and continental championships. Mixing faces is not permitted.
• The alternate uniform rule used at World Cup events to ensure teams do not wear the same colour during finals is now applied to all televised matchplay.
• Unsigned scorecards no longer result in immediate disqualification.

Work on the International Paralympic Committee mandate to have a separate book of rules for para sport, which will become Book 5 in the World Archery Rulebook, is ongoing and will be up for approval when complete.

Following his work on the new Book 2, Randall Jones was officially appointed as an advisory technical editor by the board to ensure language consistency.

All 14 members of the executive board travelled to Lausanne for the meeting. It marked the official introduction of Raul Calin as secretary general, after taking up the post at the start of December, and Juan Carlos Holgado as executive director.

Automated translation tools were used for the first time, allowing members to speak and listen in their native language.

The executive board is expected to convene online throughout 2026, then in person in the autumn, alongside the next joint committee meeting.

Header image courtesy of IOC/Greg Martin.