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Compound archery will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, providing a massive boost to India's elusive medal hopes in the precision sport.
India have never won an Olympic medal in archery -- a sport where their compound archers have consistently outshone their recurve counterparts in recent years.
Only one event will be staged in compound archery, the mixed team event, while five events will be conducted in the existing recurve section.
“We waited for this day for a long time. This will definitely give a huge boost to our Olympic medal hopes,” Abhishek Verma, India's most decorated compound archer, told PTI from Florida after winning a team bronze at the World Cup Stage 1.
"Hopefully, archery's first Olympic medal for India will come from the compound section,” added Verma, a veteran of the sport who has been flying the Indian flag high since making his World Cup debut 16 years ago.
Verma has alone won two gold, two silver, and six bronze medals in the mixed team event at the World Cup -- the same format that will now feature in the Los Angeles Games.
“It was disappointing when compound archery missed out in its earlier bids for Olympic inclusion, but we never lost hope,” said Verma, who is also a member of the World Archery Athletes' Committee.
He is also hopeful that by 2032 Olympics compound archery will have all the three disciplines -- individual, team and mixed.
However, Verma was quick to stress that the focus remains on collective success.
“We will work in tandem with our recurve archers to give India's Olympic mission a big boost. Ultimately, we are one team with a common dream.”
India's compound archers have been making a strong statement on the world stage. At the Shanghai World Cup recently, India won a record eight medals -- their best-ever haul at a single World Cup edition. Five of those medals, including four golds, came from the compound category.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced earlier on Wednesday that the compound mixed team event will be added to the archery programme at the LA28 Games, marking the first time since 1972, when archery was reintroduced to the Olympics, that a new bowstyle has been added.
“This is a monumental step forward for the sport and for the millions of compound archers worldwide who have long sought Olympic recognition,” said World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur Erdener, who was recently honoured with the Olympic Order for exceptional service to international sport.
Invented in the USA, the compound bow uses a system of cams and pulleys to power an arrow with remarkable efficiency.
Since its introduction at the World Archery Championships in 1995, compound archery has grown rapidly, featuring at the World Games since 2013 and several continental multisport events across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific.
“Since the launch of the Archery World Cup in 2006, recurve and compound have been treated equally in terms of participation, promotion, and prize money,” said World Archery Secretary General Tom Dielen.
The addition of compound archery to the Olympics, he said, is a fitting legacy for Prof Erdener, who will step down later this year after tirelessly working to expand archery's Olympic footprint.