World Archery proposes inclusion of indoor compound events for 2028 LA Olympics

World Archery (WA) on Friday announced it has pushed for the inclusion of indoor compound events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, a move, if accepted, could be a ''game changer'' for India, hoped High-Performance Director of the sport in the country.

Currently, the Olympics only have recurve events in the sport. The high-scoring compound events which are played indoors as well as outdoors, are part of sports programs of the Asian Games, European Games, Pan American Games, World Games, and World University Games but not the Olympics.

''The proposal from World Archery is for an additional indoor archery competition for men, women and mixed teams that would last approximately three days, shorter than the current nine-day Olympic schedule,'' the WA stated.

''Competing over 18 meters and indoors, in comparison to the 70-meter outdoor recurve format, would differentiate the two events while building on the successful professional indoor archery circuit that is already well-established in the USA, the host nation of the next Games after Paris 2024,'' it added.

The request will be assessed by the International Olympic Committee, alongside submissions from other sports, before a final decision is made.

Indian archery high-performance director Sanjeeva Singh hailed the world body's decision, calling it a ''game-changer'' for India which is yet to win an Olympic medal in the sport. ''Our compound archers are going very well and in six years the current junior lot of Rishab Yadav, Prathmesh Fuge, Jawakar, Kundera, Priya Gurjar, Parneet Kaur, Aditi, Pragati, and Sakshi shall be fully ready and poised to win an Olympic medal,'' Singh said.

''This may be a game-changer for Indian archery and open up archery in a big way in school and colleges where there is a paucity of space and also time constraint of studies.'' The compound is a modern bow style invented in the 1960s that uses a system of pulleys and cables, along with release aids and magnified scopes, to increase the bow's speed and accuracy. The compound competition emphasizes precision, tension, and perfection.

It has featured at the World Archery Championships since 1995 and on the World Cup since its launch in 2006. ''Compound compared to recurve archery requires 3-4 hours of practice and is easier to shoot. A lot of school boys and girls feel they will take up indoor compound archery if the proposal is approved by the IOC,'' Singh said.

''Our chances to win more medals at the Olympics will become bright. Abhishek Verma and Jyoti Surekha will be the role models as both have accomplished a lot on the World Stage,'' Singh added.

Archery is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its return to the Olympics in 2022. The sport was featured on the program of the Games in 1900-1908 and 1920 before taking a 52-year hiatus until 1972.

The number of available medals has also since risen from two to five with the introduction of recurve team competitions – and the mixed team at Tokyo 2020.

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