The United States has a somewhat rich history in archery, but has struggled in the last few years. Three men and three women will attempt to turn that around in London.
The Team:
The team is made up of three men and three women who will compete both individually and as a team. Brady Ellison took part in the 2008 Olympics and Jennifer Nichols is in her 3rd Olympics having taken part in the 2008 and 2004 Olympics. Khatuna Lorig competed in 3 Olympics (92, 96, and 2000) before becoming a US Citizen and took part in the Beijing games, making this her 5th Olympics!
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
USA Archery
Men:
Brady Ellison*
Jake Kaminski
Jacob Wukie
Women:
Miranda Leek
Khatuna Lorig*
Jennifer Nichols**
* – Was on team in 2008 – Beijing
** – Was on team in 2004 & 2008
Schedule:
The individual competitions will begin with a Ranking Round to set the seeds for the knockout portion of the tournament. After the knockout bracket is set (1v64, 2v63 and so on) the competitors will face off in five-set matches. Each set consists of three arrows. Win three sets and you are through.
The team competitions will be seeded using the combined scores of the team members from the Ranking Round, the top 4 teams on each side getting a bye with teams 5-12 matching up. In the team competition it is only total points that matters, not sets.
July 27
4 AM ET – Men’s Ranking Round
8 AM ET – Women’s Ranking Round
July 28
4 AM ET – Men’s Team – Round of 16
10 AM ET – Men’s Team – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM ET – Men’s Team – Semifinals
12:33 PM ET – Men’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM ET – Men’s Team – Gold Medal Match
July 29
4 AM ET – Women’s Team – Round of 16
10 AM ET – Women’s Team – Quarterfinals
11:40 AM ET – Women’s Team – Semifinals
12:33 PM ET – Women’s Team – Bronze Medal Match
1:01 PM ET – Women’s Team – Gold Medal Match
July 30-August 1
4 AM ET – 11:05 ET – Rounds of 64 for both genders followed by rounds of 32, some men and some women will go on each day.
August 2
4 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Round of 16
9 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Quarterfinals
9:52 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Semifinals
10:21 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Bronze Medal Match
10:37 AM ET – Women’s Individual – Gold Medal Match
August 3
4 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Round of 16
9 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Quarterfinals
9:52 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Semifinals
10:21 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Bronze Medal Match
10:37 AM ET – Men’s Individual – Gold Medal Match
Past Results:
Men:
Brady Ellison: In 2008 he had a great Ranking Round and ended up seeded 15th. Despite the high seed he was knocked out in the Round of 32 by 47th-seed Jay Lyon of Canada.
As a team in 2008 the US ended up seeded 10th after the Ranking Round and lost in the Round of 16 to 7th seeded Chinese Taipei.
The US won five of the first seven medals in men’s individual archery, but haven’t won gold since Justin Huish in Atlanta. Vic Wunderle was the last American to medal, winning silver in 2000.
The team won their first gold medal in 1996 and followed that up with a bronze in 2000, but haven’t been on the medal stand since then.
Brady Ellison is the two-time defending FITA Archery World Cup champion, though that competition is a weaker field than the Olympics.
Women:
Jennifer Nichols: In 2008 she ended up the 24th seed after the Ranking Round and was knocked out in the Round of 32 by 9th seeded Nami Hayakawa of Japan. In 2004 she was the 19th seed and advanced to the Round of 16 before losing to Yun Mi-Jin of South Korea.
Khatuna Lorig: In 2008 she was the 26-seed after the Ranking Round but pulled off upsets in the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 to advance all the way to the quarterfinals. She lost in the quarterfinals to Yun Ok-Hee of South Korea. Back in 1992 she won a bronze medal in archery as a member of the Unified Team.
There was no US women’s team in Beijing, but in 2004 the women’s team was seeded 9th and lost to Greece in the Round of 16.
The US women won the first two women’s individual archery gold medals, but none since Luann Ryon in Montreal (1976), the last medal for the US in the sport.
The women’s team did win bronze in 1988, the first year of that competition.
South Korea is the dominant country of archery having won every women’s team gold medal, four of the six men’s team gold medals, and six straight women’s individual gold medals (interrupted in 2008 by China).
