Archery as a Paralympic Sport and other Paralympic sports for athletes with disabilities originated at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England right after World War II. The goal was to rehabilitate war veterans who had suffered injuries during the war.
This competitive sport had particular success as the central focus of rehabilitation, proposed by neurologist Ludwig Guttmann. Soon, national competitions were organized with other hospitals and clubs, which coincided with the opening day of the London Olympic Games in 1948. The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960.
It is worth mentioning the launch of the arrow that lit the Olympic and Paralympic flame in Barcelona ’92 by Paralympic athlete Antonio Rebollo.
Paralympic Archery Disciplines
Archery competition can be done in wheelchair and standing categories, for both men and women, individually or by teams. The competition is held on 122-centimeter targets from distances ranging from 30 to 90 meters. There are high performance and precision levels in these competitions.
Paralympic archery follows the same rules and protocols as Olympic competitions.
We can distinguish different categories in Paralympic archery competitions:
- W1: Athletes with higher disability. Usually in a wheelchair with adaptations to the bow.
- OPEN: Athletes with lower disability. They usually compete standing, though they may use a stool or wheelchair and an unmodified bow.
Two types of bows are used: the recurve bow and the compound bow:
- W1: Recurve Bow and Compound Bow or Pulley bows compete together.
- OPEN: Recurve Bow and Compound Bow compete separately.
Rules in Paralympic Archery
The athletes who can participate are people with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, amputations, and other types of disabilities, mainly at the muscular level. Depending on the degree of disability, athletes are placed in different categories.
The paralympic archery categories are:
- ARST: Athletes with loss of muscle strength and coordination only in the legs. They can shoot while seated or standing.
- ARW1: Athletes with disabilities in both legs and arms, severely limited in movements and possibly with little control of the trunk.
- ARW2: This category is for athletes with paraplegia who have lower movement limitations and use a wheelchair daily.