Archery returned to the Olympics in 1972 after a 52-year absence, featuring two medal events contested by nations across both genders.
Key Facts
- Medal events
- 2 (one men's, one women's)
- Format
- Two FITA rounds per event
- Arrows per archer
- 144 (36 per distance × 4 distances) arrows
- Nations in both events
- 18 nations
- Men's shooting distances
- 90, 70, 50, and 30 metres
- Women's shooting distances
- 70, 60, 50, and 30 metres
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Archery had been absent from the Olympic programme since 1920, and sustained advocacy by the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc (FITA) led to the sport's reinstatement. Standardisation through the FITA round format provided a consistent international competition structure that satisfied Olympic requirements.
At the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, two archery events were held — one for men and one for women. Each competition comprised two FITA rounds, with archers shooting 144 arrows total at targets set at four distances. Twenty-seven nations participated across the two events.
The 1972 Games established archery as a permanent fixture on the Olympic programme, using the FITA double round format that would underpin Olympic archery competition for subsequent decades and helped grow international participation in the sport.
Result
at Munich, West Germany