Lord’s Welcomes Archery For Test Event

Lord’s Cricket Ground is set to host the London 2012 archery test event from today until the 10th October, with more than 100 of the world’s best archers taking part in the seven day competition – the London Archery Classic.

??The event is an officially recognised World Archery international tournament and will use the new scoring format – head-to-head matches with sets – which will be in place at the London 2012 Olympic Games.??

A strong British field for the event includes Simon Terry, Larry Godfrey and Alan Wills, who all competed for Team GB at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.??For the women, five-time Olympian Alison Williamson, Naomi Folkard and Amy Oliver will all be in action.??

Oliver said: ‘I can’t wait to shoot at an international competition at Lord’s. The venue is so iconic and it will really whet the appetite ahead of London 2012’.

??’The test event is an extremely important tournament for all of us [the GB Archery team] because not only is it an international competition, it is also an important exercise in testing out where we are at’.??

‘We are all aware of how much hard work we need to put in over the winter as we aim to qualify and be part of the Games next year’.??

The London Archery Classic will be the first London 2012 Olympic Cluster 2 test event after the Cluster 1 test events were successful completed earlier this year.??

Following the London Archery Classic, the next of the Cluster 2 test events will take place on 23rd November with handball at the Handball Arena on the Olympic Park.??

There will be further in December, January and February before the Cluster 2 test event programme comes to a close with the British Swimming Championships at the Aquatics Centre on the Olympic Park from 3rd to 10th March. ??

London 2012 will be using the event to test key aspects of its operations including running the competition on a single competition range during the elimination rounds – previous Olympic Games have used more than one range – and the new scoring system which will debut next year’s Games.??

Tickets have been distributed to local residents, schools, colleges and archery clubs but the event is not open to the general public.??

During London 2012, crowds of 6,500 will be able to enjoy the competition of the competition with one field of play inside the stadium.