MAIN Sports 2012 Summer Olympics Archery

Archery developed as a sport during the Middle Ages when tournaments were held to encourage the military art of good marksmanship.

While romantics may still dream of Robin Hood, William Tell and even Native Americans with bows and arrows, modern archery is far from the wooden bows and arrows of yesteryear.

Today's bows are made from special aluminium alloy and are designed to shoot aluminium and carbon graphite arrows at speeds of more than 150mph.

Archery at the Olympic games made its debut in the 1900s as one of the only sports open to men AND women. Since then, archery team competitions have also been included.

In Olympic archery, points are scored by hitting a target consisting of five colored rings.

The closer the arrow lands to the "bulls eye", the higher the score achieved. At the Olympics, 64 men and 64 women compete several through elimination rounds until only the top scorers remain.

Although archery has come a long way from its ancient roots, a good eye and a steady hand are still major requirements for competition in the sport.

Around the Web, follow the modern day archers as they vie for Olympic gold...

More about Olympic archery around the Web:

Archery | Olympic Sports | London 2012 - A complete overview including rules of competition, fun facts and sports jargon with related news and blog postings.

International Archery Federation (FITA) - The official archery site with the latest news on Olympics and all other international archery tournaments. Statistics, local FITA associations and related sections will keep you up to date with the sport.

European and Mediterranean Archery Union (EMAU) - Focus on the Grand Prix and other archery events with standing for men's and woman's recurve and compound. Scrolling news feed gives the latest info in the sport. Links to International and National Archery Associations and a section on rules and regulations for a wide range of ages.

USA Archery - Comprehensive site with good coverage of top U.S. athletes along with more on international and Olympics meets and news with all-time archery medal counts for all nations.

BBC Olympics - Archery - Top notch reporting from the games in London featuring photos, videos, star athlete interviews and related Web resources.

Becoming An Olympic Archer - The USA Olympic Committee Archery team site has a great article on getting started in the sport. You can also click around to the Team USA members, news, Olympic updates and plenty of other great information on archery in the US.

Summer Games Gateway Archery - This EdGate site is geared to education and provides a nice collection of information and links to archery as a sport and as an Olympic event. Less technical than many of the others, the site includes ideas for lesson plans on archery.