On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced exciting news for Indian archers: compound archery (mixed team) will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. This decision was made as part of the IOC’s approval of the Games programme. Along with compound archery, other mixed events in athletics, golf, gymnastics, rowing, and table tennis have also been added.
A Historic Move for Archery
Archery has been a part of the Olympics for many years, but this will be the first time that compound archery will join recurve archery. Compound archery has gained popularity worldwide, and India has performed exceptionally well in this sport. In 2023, Aditi Swami and Ojas Deotale made history by becoming the first Indian world champions in compound archery.
A compound bow is much more advanced and technical compared to the traditional recurve bow. With the addition of the compound mixed team event, the total number of archery medal events at the 2028 Olympics will rise to six. This includes the five existing recurve events: men’s and women’s individual, men’s and women’s team, and mixed team.
The Impact of This Change
World Archery President Ugur Erdener celebrated the inclusion of compound archery, calling it “a monumental step forward for the sport and for the millions of compound archers worldwide who have long sought Olympic recognition.”
India’s archery community will benefit greatly from this inclusion, as the country has shown great promise in compound archery. Alongside compound archery, other sports like squash and cricket are also part of the LA 2028 programme, which adds to the excitement.
Other Updates for the LA 2028 Olympics
The IOC also announced other key updates for the LA 2028 Olympics:
- Increased Medal Events: With 351 medal events, there will be 22 more events compared to the Paris 2024 Olympics. The total athlete quota remains at 10,500, with 698 additional spots for new sports like baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.
- Cricket: Both men’s and women’s T20 cricket competitions will be held as six-team tournaments.
- Squash: Squash will feature both men’s and women’s singles events.
Changes in Shooting, Boxing, and Weightlifting
There are also changes in other sports:
- Shooting: The skeet mixed team event will be replaced by the trap mixed team event. This change is disappointing for Indian skeet shooters, as Anant Jeet Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan narrowly missed out on a bronze in the skeet mixed event at the Paris Olympics.
- Boxing: Boxing will continue in the Olympics under a new world body, World Boxing. An exciting development for India is the addition of an extra women’s weight category. The women’s divisions will now include 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, and +80kg.
- Weightlifting: The new weightlifting divisions are still being decided.
New Events in Golf and Table Tennis
- Golf: In addition to the men’s and women’s individual stroke-play events, a mixed team event has been added.
- Table Tennis: Table tennis will now feature six events after a mixed team event was introduced.
Gender Equality in Team Sports
For the first time, all team sports at the Olympics will have an equal number of women’s and men’s teams. In water polo, this will result in 12 women’s teams and 12 men’s teams. In football, the number of women’s teams will increase to 16, while there will be 12 men’s teams.