Archery at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Archery
at the Games of the II Olympiad
VenueBois de Vincennes
Dates15 July – 14 August 1900
No. of events7 (7 men, 0 women)
Competitors153 from 3 nations
1904 →

At the 1900 Summer Olympics, seven of the archery events that took place in Paris, France, are considered to be "Olympic" by Olympic historians, with 153 archers competing. The identities of 17 of those archers are known, though a number of those are known only by their surnames.

In total, 1400 archers[1] to over 1500 archers[2] participated in the archery competitions. It was the first time that archery was featured in the Olympics. All seven events were for men. Only France, Belgium, and the Netherlands sent archers. Six Dutch archers competed, but none qualified for any of the individual event finals.

Until July 2021, the IOC did not decide which events were "Olympic" and which were not.[3]

The events included here exclude many of the archery events held in France in 1900 connected to the World's Fair; those events, if included, would put the number of archers over 5,000. These events are excluded typically because of their status as French national championships rather than international contests (even though international participants were invited to enter) or because, as team events, they were essentially qualifiers for the final events.

The team events au berceau served as qualifying for the individual events. The top eight finishers in the team events au cordon doré were eligible to compete for the individual titles, while the top six finishers in the team events au chapelet were eligible to compete for the individual titles. Two immensely popular types of archery – short-range butt shooting in a covered gallery (au berceau) and popinjay (sur la perche) – were practiced mainly in France and Belgium.

A case could also be made that only one event took place au berceau, that of the Championnat du Monde: this event was contested between the two best performing au berceau archers in the individual events, au cordon doré and au chapelet, being Henri Hérouin and Hubert Van Innis. Thus, all the earlier events could be considered qualifying for that one final event.[4]

Crossbow shooting events also took place, though these are not considered to be Olympic.[5]

  1. ^ "Gevonden in Delpher - Vlaardingsche courant".
  2. ^ "Gevonden in Delpher - Algemeen Handelsblad".
  3. ^ Lennartz, Karl; Teutenberg, Walter (1995). Olympische Spiele 1900 in Paris. Kassel, Germany: Agon-Sportverlag. p. 147. ISBN 3-928562-20-7. In many works, it is read that the IOC later met to decide which events were Olympic and which were not. This is not correct and no decision has ever been made. No discussion of this item can be found in the account of any Session.
  4. ^ "Archery at the 1900 Paris Summer Games". Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2018. Archery expert Fred Lake ... commented on the 1900 archery events.
  5. ^ "Olympedia – Archery at the 1900 Summer Olympics". Olympedia – Main Page. 26 August 1900. Retrieved 29 January 2024.