USA Archery Olympic Trials- June 1-3, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Ahh…finally to the competition! On Saturday morning eight women and eight men are competing for 3 spots each on the USA Olympic team. This is the “third nomination shoot” or third phase of the qualifying process. The team will be decided by cumulative scoring from all three events.
The morning session is a ranking round with the athletes being placed by their total points scored. Scoring- There are 10 concentric circles on the target. The small middle circle scores a 10, each circle going out scoring one less point. The archers shoot six rounds of 12 arrows each. So a perfect score would be 720. The distance is 70 meters.
So, as Jim and I and a handful of other people sit in the stands, the announcer says “Archers ready,” the beep sounds and competition begins. Wait! This is the Olympic Trials. No National Anthem? No announcing of the competitors? No pageantry? Guess not. Arrows fly toward the targets. I felt bad for what seemed like a lack of respect for, or at the least an acknowledgement of the athletes. But I’m a guest, this is their way of doing things, and they seemed OK with it.
This session took about 2 ½ hours. And the laid back atmosphere from training yesterday continued into the competition. No clapping, no cheering. After shooting the 12 arrows, the athletes leisurely walk to the target, pair up to determine each others scores, and walk back to shoot again. Scores are totaled up at each target, with Brady Ellison (currently ranked #1 in the world) and Miranda Leek (#1 in the US) leading their respective fields.
Elimination round. #1 shoots head to head against #8, #2 against #7, etc. But they only 
shoot three arrows. Points are accumulated according to number of wins, losers are eliminated for the day and unable to score more points. The men’s session was almost finished when a powerful storm blew in. Heavy winds, pounding rain and lightning. Play was suspended, while the athletes sat in cars waiting out the weather.
When the weather cleared almost 2 hours later, although still chilly and windy, play resumed. The men finished with Joe Fanchin being declared the winner. The women’s matches followed, with Heather Kuehl claiming the top spot for the day. Finishing late in the cold and wind, everyone was happy to call it day!
We were unable to attend the final round on Sunday, a round-robin competition. But I 
followed the event on Twitter. USA Archery did an amazing job of sharing up to the minute results. In the end Ellison, Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie realized their dream of making the 2012 Olympic team. Leek, Khatuna Lorig and Jennifer Nichols were nominated to the team. At this time the U.S. has qualified just one women’s spot for London. The three women nominated to the team will compete in the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament in Ogden on June 21. There they will attempt to qualify a full team by finishing in the top three. If they’re unsuccessful, only Leek, the top-ranked female athlete from the Olympic Trials will compete in the Olympic Games.
While I’m sure many would find spectating archery a bit boring, I found it interesting to watch from many aspects. I liked the composure and quiet resiliency of the athletes. I enjoyed their easy camaraderie and obvious closeness. But mostly, I loved watching athletes compete in a sport so purely for the love of the sport. Archers train no less than most athletes in other sports. They sacrifice as much for their dream. Yet the monetary rewards and public recognition are pretty much non-existent. So yeah, I feel privileged to have witnessed these 16 athletes this weekend. And I’ll be cheering them on in London!
Interesting Info and Observations:
- As with most sports, the equipment continues to evolve as a result of improving technology. These are not your grandfather’s backyard bows! Bows at this level can cost up to $2,000.00.
- Archery is contested in any weather, rain, snow, hail, winds. Lightning is the only weather issue to halt play.
- 10 of the 16 athletes are residents of the Olympic Training Center program in Chula Vista, CA
- I got an autograph on the first day from one of the male athletes. At that time I didn’t yet know who was who. I made some comment about hearing he was pretty good. His reply to me, “I hope to be someday. Thanks so much for coming today.” Turned out to be Brady Ellison!
- There is an allotted amount of time to shoot the number of arrows for each round.
- This will be Khatuna Lorig’s fifth Olympics! She also served as the archery coach for “The Hunger Games.”
- Thomas Stanwood is a lawyer, having just passed his bar exams. And he only tried archery for the first time two years ago!
- Women’s winner Miranda Leek , 19, recently cut off 12 inches for her hair, donating it to Locks of Love, a non-profit group that provides hairpieces for children with medical conditions that cause hair loss.
- There was a lack of the large group family supporters we’ve seen at wrestling and volleyball. In fact in many cases it wasn’t real obvious who belonged with who!
- There’s an “approved music list” to be played at archery events.
In Celebration of Sport!