Beginner’s guide to the Lausanne 2018 World Archery Masters Championships

The first World Archery Masters Championships, an open entry tournament for archers aged 40 years and over, will take place across the Olympic Capital of Lausanne, Switzerland on 14-18 August 2018.

Hosted by the World Archery Excellence Centre, the multi-discipline schedule features indoor, outdoor and field competitions, which make use of the Centre’s facilities, as well as the Lausanne club range and the field course at Montheron.

The oldest competitor in the field is Aleksander Kiskonen of Estonia who, at 79 years of age, is competing in the compound men’s 60+ category.

Aleksander was 50 years of age the last time the city of Lausanne hosted an event of such standing, when the outdoor World Archery Championships took place at the Chavannes sports complex in 1989.

Factsheet: Lausanne 2018

• Venue: World Archery Excellence Centre, Vidy archery field and Montheron field course, across Lausanne, Switzerland
• Dates: 14-18 August 2018
• Number of athletes: 356 (240 men, 116 women) from 44 countries

Unlike other world archery championships, participants entered this tournament directly and do not need to be a member of a national team, although they must be a member of a World Archery national federation.

Tournament structure

The field is split into categories for ages 40+, 50+, 60+ and 70+. Official world champion titles will only be awarded in the 50+ recurve and compound divisions in indoor and outdoor events, and 50+ recurve, compound and barebow divisions in field events.

There are non-championship events for the additional age groups – 40+, 60+ and 70+ – and the tournament also includes longbow and instinctive bows.

Outdoor: 72-arrow qualification round followed by head-to-head eliminations for recurve and compound (70, 60 or 50 metres according to category); 72-arrow 30-metre round for barebow, longbow and instinctive.

Championships awarded for compound (50 metres) and recurve (60 metres) 50+ age group.

Indoor: 60-arrow 18-metre round, 60-arrow 25-metre round combined; varying face sizes for non-championship bowstyles.

Championships awarded for compound and recurve 50+ age group.

Field: 24-target combined round; 12 marked, 12 unmarked targets.

Championships awarded for compound, recurve and barebow 50+ age group.

Schedule (50+ championships only)

• Tuesday 14 August: Official practice
• Wednesday 15 August: Recurve women indoor, recurve men outdoor, compound field
• Thursday 16 August: Compound outdoor, recurve women outdoor, recurve men indoor, barebow field
• Friday 17 August: No competition
• Saturday 18th August: Compound indoor, recurve field

Full schedules for all divisions and venues are available on the World Archery Excellence Centre website.

Three facts

1) Lausanne is known as the Olympic Capital, as it is the home of the International Olympic Committee, as well as many major sports federations.

2) The tournament is based at the World Archery Excellence Centre, which opened in 2016. It is the first major international championships to be held at the Centre.

3) Every second future edition of the World Archery Masters Championships will be integrated into the World Masters Games, which are held every four years. The next is in Kansai, Japan in 2021.

Notable participants

Multiple Olympians and world medallists are competing at Lausanne 2018, including a champion from the 1989 World Archery Championships, Stan Zabrodski, which were also held in Lausanne.

Other world medallists include Jose Ignacio Catalan, Rick Stonebraker, Olga Rogova and world indoor champions in 1989 Tatyana Muntyan and in 1997 Yuri Leontiev.

The seven Olympians are Zabrodski (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004) Vladimir Esheev (1980, 1988 individual bronze), Deborah Lynn Ochs (1988 team bronze), Juan Carlos Echavarria (1984), Sylvia Harris (1992), Vedat Erbay (1988, 1992) and Nathalie Dielen (2008, 2012).

The first World Archery Masters Championships take place on 14-18 August 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland.