RSA Eliminated in RW 1/32 in Olympics
30 July 2012. This morning, Karen Hultzer came up against Italy in the 1/32 eliminations. In the first set of 3 arrows, Karen shot 21 against Italy's 27. The second set followed with RSA shooting 19 against Italy's 21. The third set saw RSA shoot 28 against Italy's 27 and in the final set RSA shot 15 against Italy's 24. RSA Totalled 83 points against Italy's 99 points who took the game in 6 points against RSA's two points. Italy shot one "ten" and one "x" against RSA's two "10's".

Karen Hultzer joins a long line of women in our sport who have competed at the Olympics. Rita Schenk competed in Barcelona in 1992. At the summer Olympics in 1996, it was the first time that a full team qualified. Jill Borreson, Kirsten Lewis and Leanda Hendricks represented the country in Atlanta. At the 2000 Olympics, both Gill Borresen and Kirsten Lewis shot for the country, and in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Kirsten was the lone South African on the Olympic Line, reaching the highest qualification yet seen by a South African in the games.

Many are still active in the sport, with Rita having qualified as a national judge and active in the sport in Namibia, while Olympian Leanda Hendricks is part of our Olympic 2016 Project and actively involved in developing the sport in rural areas.

World Archery Commentary: Karen HULTZER (RSA) is the oldest woman on the archery field at 46. Remarkably, she had never picked up a bow before five years ago.

The start was difficult for the South African lady who only scored 21 and 19 in the first two sets and trailed 0-4. She managed to score 28 to win the third set and came back at 2-4.

She was betrayed by her nerves again in the fourth set in which she shot a 3 and a 4. Her opponent from Italy had clinched victory even before her last arrow (6-2).




RSA to go up against Italy
In the 1/32 elimination ranking chart, the archer ranked 46th will shoot against the archer ranked 19th. The provisional results show that RSA will be shooting against Pia Lionetti of Italy (who shot 652) on Monday. Lionetti is a well seasoned archer currently ranked 41 in the world (best world ranking 6). She has participated in over 100 World Ranking events since she started competing in 2005. Karen is currently ranked 124th in the world, with her best world ranking of 111 and has 14 world ranking tournaments under her belt. Olympic Gold (SS4 & HD2) TV will be airing the qualification round highlights this evening (19h40 RM and 19h50 RW). All results and rankings are provisional. SuperSport reports: South Africa's only archer at the London Olympics, Karen Hultzer, finished 46th of 64 competitors in the preliminary ranking round of the women's individual event on Friday. Hultzer, a 46-year-old landscaper from Cape Town, picked up 631 points in the preliminary round. Ranked 124th in the world, she will hope to hold her own as she prepares to punch above her weight in the first round of the knockout competition next week. Photographs can be found in our gallery.


Italian opponent next up for archer Karen
Team South Africa’s Karen Hultzer expressed her satisfaction at her performance in the ranking round of the archery competition at the London Olympics on Friday, writes Mark Etheridge.
She ended the day with a ranking of 46 of 64 athletes with a final score of 631, 40 points of the leading mark.
Her result means she’ll come up against Italian Pia Lionetti in Monday morning’s 1/32 eliminations.
Lionetti ended 19th in the rankings round with a score of 652.
Said Hultzer, whose age is the same as her ranking: “I was a bit nervous at the beginning but was shooting solid. Actually it was stange because when I began to relax then I slacked off so maybe I must be under pressure more!
“Still my 631 is only seven points off my personal best 638 and I’ve only shot that once. Two months ago I wasn’t shooting 630 so I have to be happy where I am now.”
Archers show two halves of 36 arrows each, making for a total of 72 arrows, all from 70-metres away from the target.
“It was also great to beat Dame Alison Williamson of Britain who was competing in her sixth Olympic Games,” said Hultzer.

Hultzer qualifies in 46th spot
Sport 24: London – South Africa’s Karen Hultzer has qualified 46th out of 64 competitors for the next round of archery taking place at Lord’s cricket ground at the 2012 London Olympics on Friday. Hultzer recorded scores of 319 and 312 for a total of 631, which was some way off the trio of leading qualifiers on 671. Hultzer registered 16 bullseyes in her qualifying and will take on 19th ranked Italian Pia Lionetti in the round of 32 on Monday.

Hultzer ranked 46th in women's archery
Supersport: South Africa's only archer at the London Olympics, Karen Hultzer, finished 46th of 64 competitors in the preliminary ranking round of the women's individual event on Friday. Hultzer, a 46-year-old landscaper from Cape Town, picked up 631 points in the preliminary round. Ranked 124th in the world, she will hope to hold her own as she prepares to punch above her weight in the first round of the knockout competition next week.


Olympic Qualification Dusted. Karen Shoots 631 Placed 46th
Reports coming in from London indicate by all accounts that it was a tough RW ranking round. The standard of shooting was very high and even in the morning RM session, a new world record was set. As the qualification round progressed, Korea held onto the first position. At the halfway mark, Karen had shot a score of 319, placing her 38th.

At the start of the round, single points separated No 1 from the rest of the field, with only 4 points between Karen and No 1; but by midway, after 36 arrows, the point difference between Karen and No 1 widened by 20 points; with Karen ahead of 69 points from Iraq's ranked 64th.

Karen surprised Africa at the midway mark, by leading Egypt by 5 points. Egypt had taken the first two positions at the Continental Qualifier earlier in the year. After 72 arrows, and at the end of the qualification round, Karen had shot a score of 631 placing her 46th. She will not proceed to the elimination round on Monday at 10am (9am UK).

After just 12 arrows: Karen held her ground with a score of 108 placing her 25th in the ranking round. This is some excellent shooting with only 4 points separating her from the No 1 ranked Bo Bae Ki of Korea.

After 18 Arrows: Karen demonstrated her big match mentality and despite the pressure, improved her position to 22nd place with a score of 163, seven points behind Korea who is leading the field with 170.

At the 24 arrow point: Karen shot a score of 215 placing her in 28th position. She shares the same score with six other countries, highlighting the fact of the importance of the "10" and "X". At this stage of the game, the gap between Karen's score and No 1 ranked Korea has widened to 11 points.

At the 30 arrow mark: Karen slipped to 37th position with a score of 267.

36 Arrows: At the halfway mark, Karen shot a 319, placing her 38th and overtaking Nada Kamel of Egypt who is placed 46th (314). Nada beat Karen at the Continental Qualifier earlier in the year.
At the 42 arrow point, Karen slipped down to 42 position, taking the lead from Great Britain's Alison Williamson (48th) with 369 points.

In the next round, having shot 54 arrows, Karen improved one position, shooting 471, just one point ahead of GBR Olympic champion Alison Williamson and at that point, the highest ranked Olympic archer in Africa.
After 66 arrows, Karen dropped to position 48 with a score of 575.

SA About to take to the line at Olympics
Karen Hultzer of South Africa will take to the Olympic line for the ranking round at 2pm today to shoot 72 arrows at 70m. Her position will determine her opponent in the eliminations. With hundreds of journalists covering the event and interest in archery at an all time high, the World Archery Federation has established a special web site for news and results on the Olympics. The live score system can also be found on this link . The Men's & Women's Individual (1/32 & 1/16 Eliminations) takes place on Monday 30th July. SS4 and HD2 will be airing the Women's Individual Ranking Round (Premier) tonight at 19h50. The full TV schedule of all archery events can be found on the Olympic Spirit (SS7/SS7N/HD5) and Olympic Gold (SS4/HD2) channels.


Archery, between old and young
World Archery News: There is a thirty-one-year gap between the youngest archer competing on the Olympic field, 15-year-old Dan OLARU from Moldova, and the oldest, Karen HULTZER from South Africa. The youngest archer competing in the London Olympic Games is Dan OLARU from Moldova at 15 – he was born on 11 November 1996. Another young archer Gael PREVOST (FRA) is amongst the youngest men at 18. “I don’t feel too much pressure, because I have nothing to lose”, said the French archer. “I hope that these won’t be my last Games. I don’t see any disadvantages about being among the youngest.” Gael PREVOST and teammates Thomas FAUCHERON (22), and Romain GIROUILLE (24) make up the youngest team on the field, with an average of 21,3 years, and they are among the favourites for a medal in the competition.

The oldest archer on the men’s side is Juan Carlos STEVENS at age 43. The local British team is the oldest team is the men’s archery competition with an average age of 35 years (Laurence GODFREY 36, Simon TERRY 38, Alan WILLS 30).

The youngest female archer is the 2011 Panamerican champion Alejandra VALENCIA from Mexico, who was born on 17 October 1994. Also among the youngest competitors is the No. 1 archer in the world and favourite Deepika KUMARI (IND), who turned 18 on 13 June.

Karen HULTZER (RSA) is the oldest woman on the archery field at 46. Remarkably, she had never picked up a bow before five years ago. The archers with the longest career are Khatuna LORIG (USA), Natalia VALEEVA (ITA) and Alison WILLIAMSON (GBR), who made their Olympic debuts at Barcelona 1992. All of them are former Olympic medallists and still have a realistic shot at an Olympic medal in 2012.


RSA sends messages of support to Karen
On the eve of the Olympic Games, the Federation President, on behalf of the executive and members, wished Karen Hultzer and Johan Steyn a successful ranking round, with the wish that the hard work, dedication and intense training pays dividends. There has been a noted increase in interest in our sport with the publicity that Team SA has been generating from London. With SuperSport TV airing the archery both live and relayed (with re-broadcasts), we expect a surge in interest in the sport. Many of our clubs are preparing themselves for the expected increase in interest. Karen has been training hard with the evidence reflected in her recent personal best. We expect her to perform well, especially with RSA archers rooting for her. The RW ranking round takes place tomorrow (Friday) at 14h00-16h00 RSA time (13h00-15h00 UK).




Archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The Archery events at the 2012 Summer Olympics is scheduled to be held over an eight day period from 27 July to 3 August. Four events will be held, and all events will take place at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in front of a temporary stand built to accommodate 6,500 spectators.

The Lord’s Cricket Ground is where South Africa will stand on the line in the Recurve Women Category holding the flag high for South Africa. Karen Hultzer (WP) representing South Africa will be one of 64 athletes who will take to the line on Friday 27 July in the 2012 London Olympics. Karen, who has competed in a number of international events, and who was recently placed 3rd in the Continental Olympic Qualifier in Rabat (MAR) has already begun her vigorous training schedule with the goal of beating her personal best of 1275 in a World Archery sanctioned event.


Karen Hultzer with Johan Steyn at the Continental Archery Championships

The competition format will be an Olympic round where 128 athletes shall compete across the four medal events: men's individual, women's individual, men's team and women's team. All four events shall be recurve archery events, and shall be held under the FITA-approved 70-metre distance and rules. An initial ranking round involving all 128 archers shall take place, before competitors move on to the 'Olympic round', which will be played in a tournament or single elimination format in each event. In each individual event, all 64 archers of each gender shall participate; in each team competition, there shall be a field of 12 teams, each consisting of three archers. See the Olympic Quota

About Karen Hultzer
Karen was introduced to the sport around the time of the Beijing Olympics and shot her first national tournament at the 2008 National Championships held in Durban where she was placed 2nd. The next year she took first place at the National Championships. At that point, her qualifying score allowed her to shoot her first international event in China, where she competed against the worlds top archers in stage 4 of the World Cup a few months later.
A few months later she was placed 80th in the world at the Korean World Championships. In March of 2010 she competed in the 8th African Games in Egypt and ranked 5th on the continent. A month later was the Continental championships on home ground where she was ranked 1st. Once again in 2010, she took first place at our national championships. In June 2011 at stage 2 of the World Cup in Turkey, she was placed 33rd, and just a few weeks later, she competed in the world championships in Italy. In March 2012 she was placed third in the Continental Olympic Qualifier in Morocco and currently ranked No 112 in the world.

About Johan Steyn (Archery Coach)
Archery, Art, science and people are what I live for. At the age of 9 years Ria Kaal and Hennie Visscher invested a lifelong addiction in me and it still keep me captive till this day. At the age of 12 I won the under 12 Northern Transvaal (those days) tournament and it triggered something in me.

In 2007 I started coaching and saw the need for Gauteng North to be re-instated as a SANAA recognized Province with the help of a hand full of committed people. This I did because I saw a few National qualifying archers rising. I served as Provincial Chair for the following two years. In thise years I shot one SANIFAA SA record amongst other smaller achievements in SANAA.

My coaching skills were supplemented by courses arranged and sponsored by SANAA ranging from inputs by Malcolm Todd, Coach Mun, Coach Pascal Colmaire (Fita Coach’s Chair), Marja Woortman (Namibia) and Josef Preisser (FITA Coach’s Chair for Africa Continent). My journey also led me to people like Mike Botha and Noel Robinson whom are all experienced coaches and SANAA members.

They cleared some mysteries of recurve archery for me. I even learned from my students.
I have had the privilege to coach many SA record holders and some international competing archers. My efforts go into Golden Arrow Club (Where I started in support of Ria Kaal) and Tuks Archery. As Provincial Coach I also have my rounds at various other archery events and coaches. I assist in coaching specific archers in other provinces.

My motto is that I will take an archer to where he/she wants to go as long as the commitment is there. I see potential in people and I want to develop it to the maximum. There is no better place to do this than in Archery.



CSIR laser technologist makes SA 2012 London Olympics team as archery coach
Today, ordinary people can directly benefit from innovative technologies as soon as they are conceived. One such case is that of Karen Hultzer who is benefiting from the use of laser technology to master her archery techniques.
Hultzer has been included in South Africa’s team to represent the country at the London 2012 Olympics. Hultzer’s is coached and managed by CSIR senior laser technologist, Johan Steyn. He uses his knowledge of lasers to the benefit of his charge for improved accuracy.
“We knew that there was 90% chance that we would qualify for the Olympics and this was confirmed when the South African Sports Confederation and Olympics Committee (SASCOC) announced the team for the Olympics,” says Steyn. “It has never crossed my mind that one day I will represent my country at the Olympics.”
“I feel humble and honoured,” says Steyn, adding, “archery, art and science are what I live for.”
Steyn says as much as he loves his work in the labs, working with small teams of laser scientists, “sometimes it is nice to go out a bit and do other things outside your day-to-day job”. Maybe the common denominator is people,” he says.
CSIR National Laser Centre manager, Dr Ndumiso Cingo, comments on Steyn’s achievement, “All Johan’s colleagues at the CSIR National Laser Centre are immensely proud of his contribution. We are even prouder still that he also utilises laser technology in his coaching techniques – just another thing that lasers can do well. We often use the analogy of the swiss knife to explain that laser technology can be used in just about any application, from eye surgery to measuring distances, and from electronic devices to cutting steel. Now I can even add ‘assisting archers with aim-finding to the list,” he quips.

Steyn is in the process of building a pointing device – similar to a laser pointer – to assist Hultzer with her form. He hopes that the device will help her accuracy during training. “One of the methods is to strap the laser pointer on the athletes head,” notes Steyn. She will only be able to use it during training, but it could help diagnose and correct her form (posture).
Steyn is confident that his charge, Hultzer, is going to do well at the Olympics. However, he warns that there are lot of things that need to be factored in, such as weather, particularly the wind. “I think she will do well because she is used to training in bad weather conditions in Cape Town” “I have a good feeling about this challenge,” he says.

As the coach, Steyn will spot for Hultzer. In archery, unlike other spots where coaches sit on the sidelines, he is allowed to stand behind her about 5m and give instructions such as correcting her form (the positioning of her shoulders upon aiming her bow).

Steyn says Hultzer will be competing with 64 archers and some of these athletes do archery for living. Here in South Africa, explains Steyn, no one can afford to shoot archery for a living. “It is simply not big enough as a sport to be regarded as a profession.”
Steyn expressed his heart-felt appreciation for the support he has received from the CSIR. “My bosses know that my participation – as a coach and manager - at the 2012 London Olympics is in the national interest,” concludes Steyn.





The ranking round will be used to seed both individual and team events, the latter by aggregating the individual scores for the members of each team; from there, the Olympic round will be conducted in tournament, single-elimination format where one loss will eliminate the competitor, save for the semifinals. In that round, the losers will move on to bronze medal competition; the winners will move on to compete for the gold medal.



Individual events
In the individual events, all 64 competitors shall enter the competition at the first round, the round of 64. In the team events, the top four seeded teams from the ranking round shall receive a bye to the quarter-final round. The remaining eight teams, seeded 5th to 12th, shall compete for the remaining four places in the quarterfinal round.

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) can enter a maximum of 6 competitors, 3 per each gender. Where an NOC has earned a full quota of 3 competitors in a particular gender category, those three competitors shall, in addition to competing in the individual event, compete together for their NOC in the team event. It is anticipated that 12 NOCs shall qualify to participate in each team event, thus qualifying 3 athletes each (24 in total) for the corresponding individual event. All other NOCs may earn a maximum of 1 quota place per gender for the individual events.

Six places are reserved for Great Britain as host nation, and a further 6 shall be decided upon by the Tripartite Commission. The remaining 116 places shall therefore be allocated through a qualification process, in which archers earn quota places for their respective NOCs, though not necessarily for themselves. To be eligible to participate in the Olympic Games after the NOC has obtained a quota place, all archers must have achieved the following Minimum Qualification Score (MQS): Men: FITA round of 1230 or 70m round of 625. Women: FITA round of 1230 or 70m round of 600

The MQS must be achieved between 2nd July 2011 (starting at the 2011 World Outdoor Archery Championships) and 1 July 2012 at a registered and sanctioned World Archery event.

Archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The Archery competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games will call for pinpoint precision and nerves of steel. Archery dates back around 10,000 years, when bows and arrows were first used for hunting and warfare, before it developed as a competitive activity in medieval England. A tense and testing sport that requires immense reserves of skill and nerve, Archery is now practiced in more than 140 countries around the world. The object of the sport is simple: to shoot arrows as close to the centre of a target as possible. Olympic Archery targets are 122cm in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Athletes shoot at the target from a distance of 70m.
Athletes compete with recurve bows, distinctive as the limbs curve outwards at the top. Men and women compete separately, both as individuals and in teams of three.

The Competition takes place between Friday 27 July – Friday 3 August at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. There are four medal events; men’s Individual, women’s Individual, men’s Team, and women’s Team. In total there will be 128 competitors, 64 men and 64 women. Each country is limited to six athletes (three men and three women), which equates to three athletes in each individual event and one team of three athletes in each team event. Athletes shoot from the shooting line to the target, 70m away. For the elimination rounds, there are two targets, with each archer or team assigned to one target.

Archery made its Olympic debut at Paris 1900, was dropped from the programme after the London 1908 Games, and then returned for a single appearance in 1920. After a 52-year gap, the sport was reintroduced at Munich 1972 and has remained on the Olympic programme ever since.

All four Archery events are played in a head-to-head elimination format.

At the start of the competition all athletes take place in a ranking round. Athletes must shoot 72 arrows in 12 phases of six arrows each, with each athlete allowed four minutes per phase. The total score of all 72 arrows determines the rankings of each athlete. These are used to make the seedings for both the Individual and the Team events.

Scoring judges sit in a protected area or blind behind the targets, and come out to score when shooting is complete. Sitting at the opposite end of the range by the shooting line are two spotters, who record each archer’s arrow values with the aid of a telescope.

Archery is a tense and testing sport that requires immense reserves of skill and nerve. The winning athlete will remain cool under the enormous pressure that an Olympic competition brings.

The competition will take place at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. It has been a venue for top-class sport since the late 19th century. Named after its original founder, Thomas Lord, the cricket ground moved to the site in St John’s Wood, north-west London, in 1814. In the London 2012 Olympic Archery competition, archers will shoot from the front of the 19th century Pavilion – a Grade II listed building that underwent an extensive refurbishment programme in 2004–05 – and across the hallowed cricket square towards the Media Centre. Commissioned for when Lord’s hosted the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the Media Centre has won many awards for its modern, almost futuristic design.

Although temporary structures such as seating are being installed to enable spectators to get closer to the action, comparatively little preparation will be needed to get this world-class venue ready for the Games.

After the Games Lord’s will return to its traditional role as the home of cricket, providing a base for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club.

Archery equipment from the training, warm-up and competition venues will be donated to schools and archery clubs across the country.

A Guide to the London 2012 Olympics
Athletes stand 70 metres from their target and score points by firing arrows at 10 concentric scoring zones, from the golden ‘bullseye’ ten-score at the centre to the one-score on the white outer ring. They have 40 seconds to release each arrow.

In the individual and team competitions, a preliminary round to determine seeding takes place before the official start of the London 2012 Games, consisting of 72 arrows.

The seedings are used to determine who plays who in the head-to-head elimination rounds. In the individual competition, 64 archers compete in a knock-out format, with matches comprising 12 arrows each.

Any country that qualifies three male or three female archers into an individual event can compete in the corresponding team event. Team events follow same competition format as the individual events, with the exception that knockout matches consist of 24 arrows per country - eight per archer.

Good concentration, balance and eyesight are key elements. The need for a steady hand and decent equipment goes without saying. Athletes opt for bows that are strong, light and bendy, made mainly from laminated wood, aluminium, carbon fibre, fibreglass and either ceramic or foam.

Competitors can use ‘bowsights’ so long as they do not contain magnifying glasses or lenses. Length of arrow can vary, depending on the draw length of the archer, with a metal point at the front and ‘fletchings’ at the back to help with steady flight.

Arrows are normally made from aluminium or carbon fibre and are colour-coded and labelled to give spectators a better idea which competitor they belong to. Bows propel arrows at around 200 Km/hr.

In the individual competition the perfect score is 720, which would require the archer to find the ‘bullseye’ with all 72 of their shots - a feat which has never been achieved in Olympic competition. The men’s record currently stands at 687 and the women’s 685. While the 12-arrow record stands at 117 for men and 115 for women. Any score above 110 is considered competitive, while 115 and above is a formidable total.

Reading wind speed and compensating for it effectively is what separates the best archers from the rest of the pack. Even reading the cross wind slightly wrong can lead archers to not only miss the inner targets, but the board altogether.



Summer Olympic Introductions: Top 10 Rules to Know About Archery

Though many of the Olympic sports in today's games no longer have the same utility as in the original games, one event that has maintained some connection to its history is archery.

In the original games, the ability to shoot a bow and arrow would have immense combat value, and it is easy to see why the skill was revered. Though it no longer has applicable day-to-day value, and the technology has significantly upgraded, archery is still an entertaining event to watch and an impressive skill to observe.

If you get a chance to tune into the archery at the London Olympics (July 27-Aug. 3), there are 10 rules you should know before the event begins:

1) The target is 70 meters from the shooter and is only 1.22 meters across. The middle circle (worth the maximum 10 points), is only 12.2 cm across.

2) The scoring system is simple. There are five colored rings, each with a black ring in the middle of the colored ring. The outermost white ring is worth 1 point. The innermost gold ring is worth 10. The rings count up in point values as the rings move toward the center.

3) Any arrow that makes its mark on a line receives the higher point total. For example, if an arrow lies on the line between the inner red circle and the outer gold circle, it will receive the score associated with the outer gold circle (9).

4) Archery competition is conducted in a head-to-head format. Before the tournament begins, each competitor or team will shoot 72 arrows in 6-arrow sets with 4 minutes given to shoot each set of 6 arrows. The scores of all 72 arrows will be added up, and that number will be used to rank the athletes from 1-64.

5) In the head-to-head format, each archer is assigned a target, and he shoots alongside one another, shooting 5 sets of 3 arrows each.

6) After each set, the scores of the three arrows are recorded to give a value out of 30 possible points. The athlete with the higher point total receives two "set points." In the event of a tie, both athletes receive one set point.

7) Once an athlete reaches 6 of a possible 10 set points, he is declared the winner and advances to the next round.

8. In the event of a tie, a single arrow shoot-off is used to determine the winner. In the event that both arrows score the same point value, the distance to the center of the target will be measured, with the shorter distance determining the winner. If the distance is the same, a second arrow will be shot, with the same rules as the first until the tie is broken.

9) Athletes are given 20 seconds to shoot one arrow, one minute to shoot a set of three, or two minutes to shoot a set of six arrows.

10) Athletes call out and record their own point values, while also checking the opponent's calls and claimed point values. Any disputes must be settled by a judge at the range before any arrows are pulled out of their targets.

An added bonus: One interesting rule is that an arrow does not necessarily need to be stuck in a target to record a point value. If an athlete was to shoot an arrow straight through the target, the hole created by the arrow could still be used to record a score.