Sports fans left stunned after realising how far archers actually have to shoot at Paris Olympics

Olympics viewers have been left shocked after realising just how far archers have to shoot at the games.

So far at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, South Korea have smashed the archery events, bagging gold in both the men’s and women’s team events.

Watching from the sofa, it can be tricky to fully comprehend just how far the athletes have to shoot, but as one person pointed out on X, the target is way further than we'd have imagined.

So how far do they actually have to shoot?

Well, the Olympics website explains that they actually shoot up to 70 metres (using a recurve bow) - which is almost 230ft - or 50 metres when using a compound bow.

"Archers shoot up to a distance of 70 metres (for recurve) and 50 metres (for compound) in standard competition. Archers aim at the five-colour target, consisting of 10 scoring zones in gold, red, blue, black and white rings," they explain.

"The innermost yellow rings score 10 and nine points, red rings score eight and seven, blue rings score six and five, black rings four and three, while the outermost white rings score two and one points."

It's hard to picture just how far that is, which is why one person on X shared a video from the event.

Anyone else’s mind blown when you realise how far away the Olympics archery target is?!
😳#Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/SQmuwgUlVG

— James Withers (@JamesRWithers) July 31, 2024

"Anyone else’s mind blown when you realise how far away the Olympics archery target is?!" they wrote.

Others agreed, with one adding: "What!? That distance 50x what I imagined."

While another said: "In my mind I knew it was far, but then you see it and it’s incredible."

And a third added: "Watching it on tv you’d think it was as close as a dart board, this video instantly makes you respect them more."

Others joked that the athlete and the target might as well be in a different time zone.

Another wrote: "What's more remarkable is that they're doing it outside.

"So many archery competitions are held indoors to avoid having to compensate for the wind which is absolute murder on the super light modern target arrows."

Just a few days ago, a huge bee almost ruined one athlete's shot after it landed on her hand.

Meanwhile, in the men's event, Kim Je-deok managed to achieve a perfect score despite a bee landing on his hand shortly before he took a shot.

He said: "As I approached the shooting line, a bee appeared. I shooed it away but it followed me.

"When it landed on my hand, I reminded myself, 'This is the Olympics', and I couldn’t lower my arms. I had a strong determination to shoot."