ON the weekend of 18-19 September 2010, Edinburgh will stage the (FITA) Archery World Cup final, the most prestigious event in the sport’s annual calendar [second only to the World Championships]. Edinburgh is the first UK city to host the Archery World Cup final, recognised as the biggest, most important archery competition ever to be seen in the UK.
It is the culmination of four World Cup qualifying events when the best thirty-two archers in the world (top 16 men and 16 women) bring the skill and tension of knockout archery matches (two competitors going head to head) into the very heart of Scotland’s capital city for two days of exciting competition.
The Archery World Cup final offers the perfect opportunity for Edinburgh residents, visitors to the city and archery enthusiasts to watch the best archers in the world compete just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi; and as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics in London.
They will showcase their incredible skills of control, calmness, technique and concentration under pressure in the two disciplines of compound and recurve bows for the biggest prize money in the sport.
With thousands of spectators expected to attend and the possibility of up to 250 million viewers watching the thrilling competition unfold via TV and internet the 2010 Archery World Cup final is not only a fantastic demonstration of the sport in the UK, it will also showcase the city of Edinburgh and Scotland as the perfect destination for the world’s biggest and best sporting events.
The event will be free for spectators, with a small charge for seating in the grandstand.
At the event there will be a series of ‘come and try’ sessions organised by Archery GB and Scottish Archery.
For more information on the Archery World Cup final go to – http://www.archeryedinburgh.co.uk/ (Please note that this website will not be operational until January 2010 or:
FITA (international Archery Federation) – http://www.archery.org/;
Archery GB – http://www.gnas.org/;
Scottish Archery – http://www.scottisharchery.org.uk/.
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Media Contact:
Paddy Cuthbert, Podge Publicity – T: 07968 699636 / E: paddy@podge.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Archery World Cup currently consists of four qualifying (elimination) stages held in spectacular venues around the world all culminating in a grand World Cup final where the top 32 archers compete over two days.
Archery World Cup final – Edinburgh
Archery has been a permanent Olympic sport since the 1972 Olympic Games and FITA has held the World Championships since 1931. The (FITA) Archery World Cup final is the most prestigious event in the sport’s annual calendar [second only to the World Championships] and the biggest, most important archery competition ever to be staged in the UK.
The Archery World Cup final is the culmination of four World Cup qualifying events (Porec, Croatia; Antalya, Turkey; Ogden, USA and Shanghai, China) when the best 32 archers in the World (top 16 men and 16 women) bring the skill and tension of knockout archery matches (two competitors going head to head) into the very heart of Scotland’s capital city for two days of exciting competition.
Archery
The Archery World Cup final always takes place in an iconic venue. Previous host venues have included the Mayapan Pyramids in Mexico, Furj Al Arab in Dubai and City Hall Square in Copenhagen.
Bow types / archery disciplines
A recurve bow, the Olympic discipline, looks much like a traditional bow except at the very ends the tips curve forward. Instead of looking like a perfect, very wide, shallow ‘D’, it has little ‘S’-type ‘recurves’ at the tips.
These tips transfer a little more power to the stored energy in the bow limbs.
A compound bow is designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw and a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot. It has a series of off-round pulleys or cams at the ends of the bow limbs that stores energy in the string itself as well as the limbs. The cam or cams (in a double cam) create far more power then the same length limbs in a recurve bow. This system also gives the archer ‘let-off’ the maximum pull.
Some compounds have as much as an 80 per cent let-off. That means that if the bow is set at 50lb draw, it takes you 50lbs of strength to pull the bow string back to a point (about halfway) the cams kick in and at full draw it takes 10lbs (80 per cent reduction of draw) of pull to hold the string back.
This a great benefit when holding an arrow, waiting for just that perfect shot.
Arrows
Arrows in the classic bow events can travel in excess of 150 miles per hour. They are made of either aluminium or carbon graphite. Aluminium arrows are more uniform in weight and shape, while graphite arrows fly faster.
The competition
The World Cup final is restricted to the 32 best archers in the world – the eight top ranked men and eight top ranked women over the season-long World Cup series in each of the two disciplines, compound and recurve.
It’s a knockout format event with two archers going head to head, shooting a maximum of 15 arrows in five sets of three arrows at a target that is 70m (230ft) distant. Each archer shoots alternately with a maximum of 20 seconds allowed per arrow. Each arrow is scored one -ten depending how close they are to the centre. The archer with the highest score goes to next round and in the event of a tie, there is a one arrow tie-breaker.
Partners of the ARCHERY WORLD CUP FINAL 2010 include:
City of Edinburgh Council
Edinburgh is a beautiful, dynamic, cosmopolitan city with an unique architectural heritage and a magnificent natural setting. It is host to many thousands of visitors who come here throughout the year to enjoy numerous cultural and sporting events such as the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and the Six Nations rugby matches.
With around one million overseas visitors a year, Edinburgh is the UK’s most visited tourist destination outside London. Edinburgh is one of the most attractive cities in the world, a fact recognised by UNESCO when conferring World Heritage Site status on the city’s Old and New Towns. Edinburgh was recently voted number one in a list of British cities to ‘see before you die’.
EventScotland
EventScotland is the national events agency.
EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.
For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org
UK Sport
UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme distributes approximately £4 million of Lottery funding each year to support the bidding and staging costs of major events on home soil, as well as providing specialist support to organisers.
Events are supported primarily based on their likely performance impact, but the broader impacts of events are also examined, to maximise the wider sporting, social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits, as well as sporting performance and legacy.
Up to 60 events across 30 sports will be supported from 2010 until the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
These competitions will attract around 17,000 athletes and provide opportunities for over 10,000 officials and volunteers to gain international sporting experience and develop key skills ahead of London 2012. More @ www.uksport.gov.uk/events
Archery GB – http://www.archerygb.org
The Scottish Archery Association – http://www.scottisharchery.org.uk/
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Contact: Paddy Cuthbert
Phone: 07968699636
Email: paddy@podge.co.uk
Website: http://www.archeryedinburgh.co.uk
