Gary Hargraves involved in London Archery Classic, Olympic Test Event

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- Nov 4, 2011

Sportworks Director Gary Hargraves has recently returned from working at the London Archery Classic event at Lords Cricket Ground, an event that was used as the official test event for next summers Olympic Games. The competition ran between the 2nd and the 10th of October and was pronounced a huge success, with more than 100 of the worlds top archers competing. Hargraves said "the event allowed LOCOG to test key aspects of the event, such as the brand new scoring system, which will be used for the first time next summer in an Olympic Games."

Gary was very impressed with the venue, and the operation as a whole upon returning to Sportworks.

"The operation was slick and worked really well at a new venue. Lords will be a stunning backdrop for the Archery to be held at, and gives a really great atmosphere to the occasion. I am very happy having worked at the event and seen first hand how it was developed. It will help us as an organisation in our planning for next springs Shooting test event. I have already worked closely with World Archery, however this was a great experience and feedback has already been discussed with LOCOG with regards to what aspects we can transfer to the Shooting event. It's great to be able to work off previous test event experience, to ensure that the shooting goes as smoothly as possible."

During the event, the first day provided the new venue with a record breaking score. South Korea's Im Dong-Hyun broke his own 72 arrow world record by scoring 693 in the ranking round, this surpassing his previous record by 2 points.

World Archery Secretary General, Tom Dielen, also said of the event:"World Archery is very excited about holding Olympic archery in this fantastic venue, the athletes, staff and volunteers all fell in love with Lord's and we can't wait for Lord's to become the home of archery next summer."