Team Ireland will be represented in Archery at the European Games in Krakow by Emma Davis and Oskar Ronan. Both athletes will compete in the Recurve Individual events, which take place in the Plaszowianka Archery Park in Krakow City. Irish archers have been competing in the European Games since the inaugural event in Baku 2015.
Archery made its Olympic debut at the Games in Paris in 1900 but dropped off the programme until 1972. Since then, seven Irish athletes have competed in the Games, including 1996 Olympian, Keith Hanlon, who is the team manager for the Irish team in Krakow.
Archery is one of the most accessible sports on the Olympic programme, and in Krakow 2023 it offers direct passes to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Ronan and Davis compete in the Recurve events, the recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take in archery, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. This allows for a higher draw in strength from the archer.
In the Recurve competition, the athletes shoot over distances of 70 metres at a target face measuring 122cm in diameter, with a 10-ring measuring 12.2 cm in diameter. The qualification phase consists of 72 arrows, after which archers are ranked by their total score to determine the seeds for matchplay. The eliminations phase consists of head-to-head brackets in which the winner of each match advances and the loser is eliminated.
TEAM IRELAND ARCHERS:
Oskar Ronan (Dublin) Men’s Recurve Individual
Emma Davis (Keady, Co. Armagh) Women’s Recurve Individual
Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Krakow 2023, Gavin Noble said,
“We are looking forward to having Oskar and Emma on the team for these Games. Archery has a vibrant community in Ireland, with athletes competing on the international stage regularly. We are looking forward to supporting their performances in Krakow, and to raising the profile of the sport in Ireland.”
President of Archery Ireland, Philip Early, said,
“I’m delighted to have two archers representing Ireland for the third consecutive European Games in Krakow 2023, and at the selection of Oskar and Emma, who will make an excellent addition to Team Ireland. They have worked tirelessly at their sport, and thoroughly deserve this opportunity as they strive to further reach their Olympic ambitions.”
This is the ninth sport to be announced by Team Ireland for the European Games this summer, with more announcements to come in the coming days. The European Games run from the 20th of June to the 2nd of July in Krakow and will see approximately 120 Irish athletes across seventeen sports. This is the third edition of the European Games, which is a multi-sport event run by the European Olympic Committees and will see athletes compete across districts in the Krakow-Malopolska region.
