The International Archery Federation (FITA) confirms the start of a new era by officially inaugurating its new Office at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland, and by celebrating its 75th anniversary.
On August 18th, the FITA President, Dr Ugur Erdener from Turkey, will lead the program composed of three parts:
1) Official opening of the new office at the Maison du Sport International (House of International Sport) as of
16h30, with:
– The opening of the office by the FITA President and the representatives of the Federal, Cantonal and City
authorities.
– A sponsor plaque will be revealed by the representatives of the FITA Sponsors.
– The 1400 Wall of Fame will be opened by the archers having first shot a score of 1400 points or higher on a
FITA Round (144 arrows for a maximum of 1440 pts).
2) Archery Demonstration at the Vidy Archery Field as of 18h15:
– 4 matches will be shot at the Archery Field celebrating 4 archers that have broken the 1400 score barrier
on a FITA Round.
– 3 matches will be individual (12 arrows, best total score wins)
– 1 match will be in team: Switzerland vs. Turkey (24 arrows, 3 archers per team)
3) As of 19h45, the Official Dinner on the Lake Leman with dignitaries from the Swiss and Turkish
governments as well as worldwide sports authorities.
Archery is in a very busy year with the launch of its new World Cup and the exhibition matches will show just that: top level archers, cutting edge technology on the field provided by Meteksan and Swiss-Timing, as well as live TV production. The matches will feature:
Compound Men: Clint Freeman (AUS) – Patrizio Hofer (SUI)
Clint Freeman from Australia was the first archer to have broken the magical barrier. At that time, he put the World Record at 1409 points (now 1414 pts by Roger Hoyle USA). Clint Freeman was the 2003 World Champion. Out of the 12 archers who have now broken the 1400 limit at official tournaments, the most recent is Patrizio Hofer (SUI) who will be the opponent of Clint. Patrizio shot 1407 on the 31st of July and is among the top contenders of this year’s World Cup.
Recurve Women: Park Sung-Hyun (KOR) – Nathalie Dielen (SUI)
Park Sung-Hyun, Olympic Champion in Athens, is the first and so far only Recurve archer to have shot above 1400. She achieved 1405 points in Cheongju (KOR) on October 10, 2004. Her opponent will be the current Swiss Champion – Nathalie Dielen – who defeated one of Park’s teammate earlier this year in Bangkok.
Compound Women: Sofia Goncharova (RUS) – Tania Forni (SUI)
Goncharova is the current World Champion and had an amazing month of June 2006. She won the two World Cup events in Antalya (TUR) and in San Salvador (ESA). At the later, she became the 2nd archer to have shot 1401 pts, tying at that time the World Record held by Mary Zorn Hamm (USA) since 2003. To note, this record was just broken on August 2nd by Jamie Van Natta (USA) with 1402 pts. Goncharova will shoot against Tania Forni (SUI), the silver medalist of the 3D world championships and the best Swiss compound archer.
Junior mixed Turkish Team – Junior mixed Swiss Team
A team composed of two girls and one boy from Turkey and Switzerland will demonstrate the existing fairplay in sports and show the talents of the future.
FITA is looking forward to this important day in its 75th year of history and hope it will be able to showcase the great values of archery.
Tom Dielen
FITA Secretary General
For more information:
Ludivine Maitre Wicki
FITA Communication
mailtinfo@archery.org
Phone: +41 21 614 3050