Sports Summary
Para-archery has featured at every Paralympic Games since the first in Rome, Italy in 1960. The sport has three different classifications and is comprised of individual and team events in both standing and wheelchair competitions. Athletes shoot from a distance at a target marked with 10 scoring zones.
The object of the sport is to shoot arrows as close to the centre of a target as possible. Targets are 122 centimetres in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2 centimetres. Athletes shoot at the target from a distance of 70 metres.
Athletes compete with both recurve bows – distinctive as the limbs curve outwards at the top – and compound bows, which feature mechanical pulleys, telescopic sights and release aids to assist in accuracy.
Men and women compete separately, both as individuals and in teams of three, and all matches are conducted as knockouts.