The 1996 Olympic archery events consisted of men’s and women’s individual and team events, the standard program since 1988. Archery in 1996 was contested at a temporary archery field constructed at the Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia, an outer suburb of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area.
The field no longer exists but the event was held at what is now part of the Songbird Habitat Trail in Stone Mountain Park. Tennis and cycling events were also contested in Stone Mountain Park in 1996. The 1996 archery events were split between the United States, which won both men’s events, and Korea, which won both women’s events, as they would at every Olympics from 1988-2004.
The formats for the events were changed again. In the individual event only 64 archers were allowed to compete with the ranking round shortened to 72 arrows – 18 arrows at four distances. All archers moved on to a single-elimination tournament, with the first three rounds shot with 18 arrow matches, while the quarters, semis, and final round matches were contested with 12 arrows. All elimination matches were shot at 70 metres. The team event was limited to 16 teams, although only 15 competed in Atlanta for both genders. The team ranking round was calculated from scores in the individual ranking round. All teams advanced to a single-elimination tournament with all matches consisting of 27 arrows, 9 each from all three team members. This format was used at the Olympics from 1996-2008.