World Archery (WA, formerly Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc – FITA) is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 national federations and other archery associations, and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
History FITA was founded on 4 September 1931 in Lwow, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine). Its seven founding member states were France, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Poland, the United States, Hungary, and Italy. The aim of the organization was to create regular archery championships, and to return archery to the Olympic Games (the sport had not been featured since 1920). FITA was finally successful in returning archery to the Olympic program in the 1972 Summer Olympics.
To celebrate the organization's 80th anniversary in July 2011, a large majority of the FITA Congress voted to change the name from FITA to the World Archery or WA.
In March 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federation announced that no athlete, team official, or technical official from Russia or Belarus will be permitted to participate in any international archery event, their flags and anthems are banned, and no archery events would be held in the two countries.
In July 2023, on the question that whether or not to re-allow athletics with Russian and/or Belarusian passports to participant international archery competitions under neutral identities, World Archery asked both national archery federations to submit personal data for investigations, as both federations denied to complete such requirements, WA said that it's unlikely to allow neutral athletes unless once procedure can be completely followed.
In December 2023, World Archery launched its own OTT Service with a subscription video on demand model and live streaming of main events.
The organization announced in 2024 that the 2025 world cup final would be held in Nanjing, China before moving to Mexico for 2026 through 2028.
Identity
Flag
The WA flag has a white background, with the organization's logo in the middle.
Member associations
As of April 2019, 159 national federations and other associations are members of World Archery.
Albania Algeria Andorra Argentina Armenia American Samoa Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Benin Bermuda Belarus Bhutan Bosnia-Herzegovina Brazil British Virgin Islands Bulgaria Cameroon Central African Republic Cambodia Canada Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic DR Congo Denmark Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Great Britain Greece Guatemala Guinea Haiti Honduras Hong Kong, China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Malawi Malaysia Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Montenegro Mongolia Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norfolk Island North Korea Norway Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Somalia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Tahiti Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Tajikistan Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam US Virgin Islands Zimbabwe
Rankings
World Archery publishes world rankings for each category of outdoor competitive archery (men / women; recurve / compound; individual / team / mixed team), updated following every official eligible event.
Each archer earns a ranking score for each competition. The ranking scores are calculated through a combination of the ranking factor of the tournament (as determined by the quality of competition, the number of competitors, and how recently the competition took place) and points based on the competitor's final position in the competition. The archer's four highest ranking scores are then combined to form their 'Added Ranking Score', which forms the basis of the ranking list. Current rankings + Current number one ranked archers OutdoorDisciplineMenWomenMen's TeamWomen's TeamMixed TeamRecurve South Korea South Korea South KoreaCompound India Mexico India Last Updated: 30 September 2025
Editions
The following table shows the venue of all World Championships on the current World Archery programme:
Denotes inaugural event
Year World ChampionshipsOutdoorIndoorYouthParaFieldUniversity3D 1931 Lwów 1932 Warsaw 1933 London 1934 Båstad 1935 Brussels 1936 Prague 1937 Paris 1938 London 1939 Oslo 1946 Stockholm 1947 Prague 1948 London 1949 Paris 1950 Copenhagen 1952 Brussels 1953 Oslo 1955 Helsinki 1957 Prague 1958 Brussels 1959 Stockholm 1960 1961 Oslo 1962 1963 Helsinki 1965 Västerås 1966 1967 Amersfoort 1968 1969 Valley Forge Valley Forge 1970 1971 York Cardiff 1973 Grenoble 1974 Zagreb 1975 Interlaken 1977 Canberra 1979 Berlin 1981 Punta Ala 1982 Kingsclere 1983 Los Angeles 1984 Hyvinkää 1985 Seoul 1986 Radstadt 1987 Adelaide 1989 Lausanne 1990 Loen 1991 Kraków Oulu Sandefjord 1992 Margraten 1993 Antalya Perpignan Moliets-et-Maa 1994 Roncegno Vertus 1995 Jakarta Birmingham 1996 Chula Vista Kranjska Gora Vaulx-en-Velin 1997 Victoria Istanbul 1998 Sunne Stoke Mandeville Obergurgl Taoyuan 1999 Riom Havana Christchurch 2000 Belfort Cortina d'Ampezzo Madrid 2001 Beijing Florence Nymburk 2002 Nymburk Canberra Chonburi 2003 New York Nîmes Madrid Sully-sur-Loire 2004 Lilleshall Plitvice Madrid 2005 Madrid Aalborg Massa Carrara Genoa 2006 Mérida Gothenburg Viničné 2007 Leipzig İzmir Cheongju Sopron 2008 Antalya Llwynypia Tainan 2009 Ulsan Rzeszów Ogden Nymburk Latina 2010 Visegrád Shenzhen 2011 Turin Legnica Turin Donnersbach2012 Las Vegas 2013 Belek Wuxi Bangkok Sassari 2014 Nîmes 2015 Copenhagen Yankton Donaueschingen Terni 2016 Ankara 2017 Mexico City Rosario Beijing Wrocław 2018 Yankton2019 's-Hertogenbosch Madrid 's-Hertogenbosch Lac La Biche2021 Yankton Wrocław Yankton2022 Dubai Terni2023 Berlin Limerick Plzeň2024 Lac La Biche Mokrice2025 Gwangju Winnipeg Gwangju
Tournaments
Summer Olympics
Archery was first competed at the Summer Olympic Games in 1900 and, after a long hiatus from 1924, became a regular event from 1972. Team events were added in 1988. Recurve archery is currently the only discipline competed at the Olympics.
Archery is also competed at the Summer Paralympics (recurve and compound disciplines), the Youth Olympic Games (recurve only), and the World Games (Field archery only).
World Championships
World Target Championships World Outdoor Archery Championships World Indoor Archery Championships World Field Archery Championships World Archery 3D Championships World Para Archery Championships World Youth Archery Championships World University Archery Championships World Ski Archery Championships FITA began holding Target World Championships in 1931. They were held every year until 1959, when the Championships became biennial events. 1959 was also the first year that FITA held the World Field Championship.
Presently, there are five principal formats of the World Archery Championships: Outdoor, Indoor, Youth, Para-Archery, and Field. Each is held every two years on different rotations. World Championships are also held every two years in 3D archery and University sport. In 2007, a ski archery World Championships was held in Moscow; this is yet to be repeated and is not included in the current rotation.
Number Events First Last 1 World Outdoor Archery Championships 1931 2025 (53rd)2 World Indoor Target Championships 1991 2018 (14th)3 World Field Archery Championships 1969 2024 (28th)4 World Archery 3D Championships 2003 2024 (11th)5 World Ski Archery Championships 1999 2017 (10th)6 World Para Archery Championships 1998 2025 (15th)7 World Youth Archery Championships 1991 2025 (19th)8 World University Archery Championships 1996 2016 (11th)
World Cup
The Archery World Cup is an annual outdoor event that was inaugurated in 2006. It is designed to present archery in 'spectacular' locations.
The format consists of 4 rounds competed across the world during a calendar year. The best individual and mixed team performers across these rounds are then invited to compete in the World Cup Final at the end of the year.
World Series
The Indoor Archery World Series is an annual indoor archery circuit founded by World Archery. The calendar includes seven events held across Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. These events can be worth 250 or 1,000 points for the winner of each event, establishing a points ranking that will determine the overall winner.
Other
Archery is an optional sport at the Universiade and the Commonwealth Games.
Current champions
The following archers are the current champions of the major World Archery Federation events: DisciplineEventSummer Olympics2024World Championships2025World Cup Series Final2025RecurveMen's Individual Women's IndividualTBDMen's Team Kim Je-deokKim Woo-jinLee Woo-seok Kim Je-deokKim Woo-jinLee Woo-seok Women's Team Jeon Hun-youngLim Si-hyeonNam Su-hyeon Chiu Yi-chingHsu Hsin-tzuLi Cai-xuanMixed Team Lim Si-hyeonKim Woo-jinElia CanalesAndrés TemiñoCompoundMen's Individual Women's Individual Men's Team Prathamesh FugeAman SainiRishabh YadavWomen's Team Andrea BecerraMariana BernalAdriana CastilloMixed Team Sanne de LaatMike Schloesser
Presidents Period Name Country Mieczysław Fularski 1931 – 1939 Bronisław Pierzchała 1946 – 1949 Paul Demare 1949 – 1957Henry Kjellson 1957 – 1961Oscar Kessels 1961 – 1977Inger Kristine Frith 1977 – 1989Francesco Gnecchi-Ruscone 1989 – 2005James L. Easton 2005 – 2025 Uğur Erdener 2025 – Greg Easton
See also List of shooting sports organizations
References
External links
Archery.tv (Official Streaming Service) History of FITA 1931–1961 by Robert Rhode (archived) Archery Champions by Robert Rhode (archived)