WA - World Archery Federation
Archery is one of the oldest human skills. The use of the bow dates back to
the Stone Age. It was the most common weapon for many centuries.
Its use as a sports device began in England during the reign of Henry VIII,
who was a good archer himself. The monarch supported the founding of the
first "archery club", the Fraternity of St. George in 1537. Another English
king George IV introduced the "Prince distances" (targets in a distance of
60, 80 and 100 yards) and the "Prince counting" (values for the various
target rings with 9, 7, 5, 3 and 1 point), when he was still the Prince of
Wales.
The first recorded competition took place in Finsbury (England) in 1583
with 3,000 participants. The first international competitions began around
the turn of the 19th/20th century with the
Anglo-French competitions both on targets and in long-distance shooting.
For the first time in 1900, archery was part of the Olympic Games. After
1920 archery was removed from the program, however, as it was not
represented by any international association and there were therefore no
uniform rules.
The international body Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc
(FITA) was founded on 04.09.1931 during the first World Championship in Lwów, Poland (today L'viv, Ukraine).
After the World Championship in August 1939, there was a war-related
break before the FITA resumed its activities with the congress on
06.08.1946.
However, another 26 years passed before the resumption of the Olympic
program. Archery has only been Olympic again since Munich 1972. In 1968,
FITA organized the first continental championship with the 1st
European Championship. In 1969, the 1st World Field Archery
Championship followed and rules for the clout archery and for flight
archery (long distance shooting) set up. At the congress on September 4th,
1972, binding rules for indoor archery were passed, but it was not until
1989 that the introduction of a World Indoor Championship was decided.
At the 1993 congress, the continental associations, some of which already
existed, officially became sub-organizations of FITA. At the congress on
01.07.2011 it was decided to replace the French name Fédération
Internationale de Tir à l'Arc (FITA) with the English name World
Archery Federation (WA) (officially in effect from 01.04.2012).
Member federations
1931 FRA, GBR, ITA, POL, SWE, TCH, HUN (1937 deleted), USA
1932 BEL
1933 EGY, NED (1939 both deleted)
1938 NOR
1946 DEN, FIN
1948 ESP
1950 MEX, NED, POR, RSA
1952 AUS, NZL
1953 SUI
1955 CAN, CUB, LUX, TUR, IND
1956 FRG
1957 HUN
1958 JPN, MAR, ROM
1959 INA
1960 31 national federations
1972 50 national federations
1980 63 national federations
1992 83 national federations
1997 114 national federations and 5 continental federations
2008 139 national federations
2021 179 national federations
Presidents
| 04.09. - 31.10.1931 | Mieczysław Fularski POL |
| 01.11.1931 - 12.08.1946 | Dr. Bronisław Pierzchała POL |
| 12.08.1946 - 12.08.1949 | Paul Demare FRA |
| 12.08.1949 - 22.07.1957 | Henry Kjellson SWE |
| 22.07.1957 - 14.08.1961 | Oscar Kessels BEL |
| 14.08.1961 - 13.02.1977 | Inger K. Frith GBR |
| 13.02.1977 - 09.07.1989 | Francesco Gnecchi-Ruscone ITA |
| 09.07.1989 - 16.06.2005 | James L. Easton USA |
| 16.06.2005 - | Dr. Uğur Erdener TUR |
Secretaries General
| 04.09.1931 - 26.03.1937 | Julian Leśniewski POL |
| 26.03. - 15.08.1937 | ----- |
| 15.08.1937 - 12.08.1946 | Stanisław Mazanowski POL |
| 12.08.1946 - 18.08.1947 | Pierre Lambeau BEL |
| 18.09.1947 - 12.08.1949 | ----- |
| 12.08.1949 - 14.08.1961 | Lars Ekegren SWE |
| 14.08.1961 - ??.08.1962 | Sylvan Mansell GBR |
| ??.??.1962 - 23.07.1963 | A. Richard Harvey GBR, acting |
| 23.07.1963 - 24.07.1965 | A. Richard Harvey GBR |
| 24.07.1965 - 13.02.1977 | Douglas M. Thompson GBR |
| 13.02.1977 - 21.07.1979 | Bernard Boulens SUI |
| 21.07.1979 - 14.06.1981 | Nino Oddo ITA |
| 14.06.1981 - 01.08.2005 | Giuseppe Cinnirella ITA |
| 01.08.2005 - | Tom Dielen SUI |
Athlete of the Year
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Brady ELLISON USA | only one "Athlete of the Year" |
| 2012 | Mariana AVITIA MEX | only one "Athlete of the Year" |
| 2013 | Martin DAMSBO DEN | Erika JONES USA |
| Recurve | ||
| 2014 | Brady ELLISON USA | Aida ROMÁN MEX |
| 2015 | KIM Woojin KOR | KI Bo Bae KOR |
| 2016 | Brady ELLISON USA | Lisa UNRUH GER |
| 2017 | Steve WIJLER NED | Lisa UNRUH GER |
| 2018 | Mete GAZOZ TUR | Yasemin Ecem ANAGÖZ TUR |
| 2019 | Brady ELLISON USA | KANG Chae Young KOR |
| 2020 | not awarded | not awarded |
| 2021 | Mete GAZOZ TUR | AN San KOR |
| 2022 | KIM Woojin KOR | AN San KOR |
| 2023 | Mete GAZOZ TUR | LIM Sihyeon KOR |
| Compound | ||
| 2014 | Pierre-Julien DELOCHE FRA | Erika JONES USA |
| 2015 | Stephan HANSEN DEN | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2016 | Mike SCHLOSSER NED | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2017 | Stephan HANSEN DEN | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2018 | Mike SCHLOSSER NED | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2019 | Mike SCHLOSSER NED | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2020 | not awarded | not awarded |
| 2021 | Mike SCHLOSSER NED | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| 2022 | Mike SCHLOSSER NED | Ella GIBSON GBR |
| 2023 | Jozef BOŠANSKÝ SVK | Sara LÓPEZ COL |
| Overall | ||
| 2022 | Ella GIBSON GBR | |
| 2023 | Marcus D’ALMEIDA BRA | |
Last modified: 07.04.2024