Fourteen countries will fight in the team event in London

The Olympic archery competition will feature a total of twelve men’s teams and twelve women’s teams. Among them, five Asian countries, three European countries and two American countries will be represented in both the men’s and the women’s competitions.   Twelve nations per gender have qualified a full, three-member team for the archery competition men’s of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Among those, no less than ten countries – five Asian, three European and two American countries – will be represented in both the men’s and the women’s competitions.   The Asian countries are China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, India, and Japan. The Korean and Chinese men and women had qualified for the Olympics at last year’s World Championships in Turin. So had the women’s team of Chinese Taipei and India, while their men’s teams won their spots at the Final Qualification Tournament last month in Ogden (USA). Japan, who had not qualified any team prior to Ogden, managed to send both a men’s and a women’s team to London.   The three European countries are Great Britain (as the hosts), Italy, and Ukraine, who both placed high enough in the ranking at the 2011 World Championships to win a direct spot for the Olympic Games.   The two American countries are Mexico and the United States. Both countries had qualified a men’s team with their good performances in Turin, while their women won their Olympic ticket only recently at the Final Qualification Tournament in Ogden.   Four additionnal countries have qualified a full team for the Games. France and Malaysia will be represented in the men’s category, while Denmark and Russia are the remaining teams qualified on the women’s side. France, Denmark and Russia had acquired their Olympic spots at the last world championships, while Malaysia won their spot thanks to a 1st place finish in the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament.   A total of 128 archers from 55 countrieswill take part in the London 2012 Olympic Games; there are 36 athletes competing within a full team and 28 individual competitors per gender.   These Olympic Games promise to be a very exciting and spectacular event. The competition is more open than ever on the men’s side, where the eleven top-ranked countries in the world and the No. 14 will be on the field. The countries number No. 12 and 13, the Netherlands and Australia, will not take part in the team event as they have only qualified individuals for the Olympic Games. The host country can have high hopes of a medal, as the British men’s team, ranked No. 5, showed strong performance earlier this season with a victory at the Antalya World Cup in May and a 3rd place finish at the Ogden World Cup in June.   The women’s event is also expected to be outstanding, with the presence of the top nine countries of the world ranking, as well as the No. 11 Japan, the No. 15 Denmark, and the No. 17 Great Britain.   KIM Soo-Nyung World Archery Communication