Archery is descended from the use of the bow and arrow for military and hunting purposes, for which uses it is known to be at least 5000 years old and possibly much older. Organised archery competitions date from no later than 1583 in England, not long before it was to be superseded by the rifle as a weapon of war. It has been an Olympic sport since 1900 (with some interruptions).
Virtually all archery competitions are based around the accuracy of hitting fixed targets some distance from a stationary archer. In normal competition, matches are against one other archer, who take turns to shoot arrows at a fixed target with nine concentric rings. An arrow that lands in the outermost ring is awarded one point, the next smaller ring two points, and so on up to nine points for the innermost ring. An arrow that misses the rings completely is not awarded any points.
There are three types of bows in archery competition, but the only Olympic competition is using the "classic" type bows, which are typically made of advanced alloys and composites and are expensive, and precision equipment.
Successful archery requires a steady hand, a good eye, and the ability to calm one's nerves.
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