Olympic Games Beijing 2008 - FAQ

FAQ on Beijing   Which rules will be used in Beijing 2008? The archery competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held in accordance with the Constitution and Rules of the International Archery Federation (FITA) and with the Olympic Charter, in force at the time of the 2008 Olympic Games. Pursuant to the Olympic Charter, FITA assumes the responsibility for the technical control and direction of archery in the Olympic Games.   What is the difference between the competition in Beijing and the World Championships? The main difference is that there are more participants in the FITA World Championships; so, a qualifying round is shot in order to determine who enters the elimination round. During the qualifying round for the FITA World Championships, archers compete in a FITA Round, which is shot at four distances—90m, 70m, 50m and 30m for men and 70m, 60m, 50m and 30m for women. During the Olympic Games the only shooting distance is 70 metres. Each archery discipline, such as Outdoor Archery, Indoor Archery, Field Archery and Ski Archery, holds World Championships with the format characteristics of each discipline.   What are the changes from Athens 2004? The format and scheduling of the competition in Beijing is slightly changed from Athens. Two separate fields of play will be used in order to allow for better TV coverage of matches being shot at the same time. The 1/32 and 1/16 elimination rounds will be held in succession on the same day. The archers will shoot in head-to-head matches based on the places they obtained in the ranking round.  The number of arrows shot per match has been changed from 18 to 12 throughout the individual elimination rounds. The number of arrows for teams has been changed from 27 to 24 in 4 ends of 6 arrows.   What is the rule in case of tied scores in a match? Individual Events Each archer will shoot a single arrow, and the archer with the highest scoring arrow will win. If tied after one arrow, a second tie-breaking arrow will be shot for score. If after two arrows are shot and the score is still tied, a third tie-breaking arrow will be shot and the archer with the third arrow that measures closest to the centre will win.   Team events Each team member will shoot a single arrow. After the first three tie-breaking arrows are shot, the team with the highest score will win. If still tied, another three-arrow end will be shot for score. If still tied, a third end of three arrows will be shot for score. If tied, the team with the single arrow measuring closest to the centre will win. If tied, the second (or third) arrow measuring closest to the centre will determine the winner. If tied, subsequent 3-arrow ends will be shot until the tie is broken. The process for ranking the losers with the same score (in the same round) is as follows: the archers are co-ranked at the same position and the subsequent place will take into consideration the number of tied archers.   What happens in case of breaking the rules? There are set penalties for infractions. The most common are: loss of the value of any arrow shot after the allocated time and having to return behind the waiting line in case of an incorrect relay in the team event.   A participant can appeal against any unfair issue, with the exception of the value of a judged arrow.