Archery at the 1988 Summer Olympics

The Olympic archery programme expanded in 1988, adding a team event for men and women, to give two men’s and two women’s events. This would become the standard Olympic archery programme until Tokyo 2020, when a mixed team competition was added to the programme. The archery events were contested at the Hwarang Archery Field, in Seoul. In archery-mad Korea, this field was constructed in 1985-86, and then upgraded for the 1988 Olympics. It still exists as an archery field, as of 2024. Korea won three of the four gold medals in 1988, interrupted only by American Jay Barrs in the men’s individual event.

The individual events also changed in 1988 with a new format. Previously (1972-84), the sport had always been contested at the Olympics with two FITA Rounds, the so-called Double FITA Round. A FITA Round consisted of 36 arrows at each of four distances – 30 metres, 50 metres, 70 metres, and 90 metres for men, and 30 metres, 50 metres, 60 metres, and 70 metres for women – for a total of 144 arrows, or 288 arrows for the Double FITA Round. In 1988, all competitors shot a Single FITA Round as a ranking round, with the top 24 archers advancing to the elimination rounds. In round one, the top 18 finishers advanced to the quarter-finals, from which 12 archers went on to the semi-finals, with the top eight from the semis advancing to the final round. All the elimination rounds were shot with 36 arrows, nine from each distance.