Emily Brown
Eye-opening footage of the archery events at the Olympics has left viewers shocked over the distance the arrows have to cover.
Admit it; there are definitely moments you've been watching the Olympics and thought, 'I could do that'.
Maybe not the gymnastics or the triathlons, but there might be a tiny part of you which is convinced you could take on the athletes when it comes to running down a track, or aiming an arrow at a target.
Advert
But while such a scenario would make for some entertaining TV, I can guarantee the athletes are going to beat you, and it's because it's all much harder than it looks.
One video that proves this was taken during archery events at Paris 2024, where the archers stepped up, secured their bows and prepared to fire at the targets.
Watching the event on TV, it's easy to assume the targets are set up only a few meters away - we typically watch it all through zoom lenses to make sure we can see exactly where that arrow is landing.
Advert
But the perspective is entirely different from within the crowd, when you can see every single one of those 70 - yes, 70 - meters between the archer and the target.
For reference, that's more than half the length of a football field.
Advert
In comparison, the targets are just 122cm in diameter, meaning you really do have to have a lot of skill even to be able to hit it - let alone get a bullseye.
Footage from the crowd has gone viral after it was shared online, where one person wrote: "Anyone else’s mind blown when you realise how far away the Olympics archery target is?!"
"On TV they never show that. Wow.," responded another, while a third commented: "They should really make this more clear in the broadcast."
Advert
Another viewer shared their amazement as they admitted to being captivated by the sport, writing: "This is why I love the Olympics….I get more excited to watch these random a** sports than anything I normally watch, how the hell are you supposed to hit this target? I don’t think I’d be able to get the arrow halfway there."
There are a total of five archery events at the Olympics, including two individual competitions for men and women, two team competitions for men and women, and a mixed team competition.
The individual competitions begin with a ranking round, where archers shoot 72 arrows to determine their ranking for the single-elimination bracket.
The athletes continue to compete in this knockout system until the final.