History of Archery
The first stone arrowheads were discovered in Africa and date back as early as 50,000 BC! Humans have used bows and arrows for thousands of years, both for hunting and in wars, and Greek mythology is filled with tales of archers, including Hercules, Artemis, and Apollo. Archery is one of the most ancient of sports. It could have started when some skilled ancient hunter was challenged to a contest by some other competitive hunter!
In the U.S., Archery was a sport played almost entirely by Native Americans until 1828, when the United Bowmen of Philadelphia was founded. In 1878, the book “The Witchery of Archery” was said to have inspired the formation of more than twenty archery clubs in less than a year. Archery was on the program of the second modern Olympic Games in 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1920. Women were allowed to compete in the Archery event in 1904 and 1908. The sport was dropped from the Olympics after 1920 because rules varied so much from one country to another.
By 1972, the great popularity of this sport brought target archery back into the Olympic program. In the 1992 Olympic Games, the Spanish Paralympic star, Antonio Rebollo, ignited the Olympic Torch by with a flaming arrow at the opening ceremony. That year, the Spanish Men’s team won the gold medal!
