Archers set target on Paris Olympics
TEAM Fiji Archery will be looking to secure a spot for Fiji at the upcoming Oceania Qualification Tournament for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand this weekend.
Team Fiji archers will include Kavi Gounder, Rajiv Solanki, Nathan Kirk, and lone female Chaandvi Prasad alongside coach George Fong.
“We are optimistic about our chances of qualifying a spot for Fiji,” George said.
“We have the same chance and opportunity as the other five countries that will be taking part.”
Fiji will face off against archers from New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and Palau.
Fong said athletes had been training hard and despite their busy schedules, he was confident that they would perform at the Oceania Qualification Tournament.
“Should we qualify a quota position on merit, this does not necessarily mean that the archer that won the quota spot will represent Fiji. The local selection criteria will be followed, and the final selected athlete is subject to approval by the World Archery Federation,” he said.
Fong said they would have to return to the country and hold another meeting to discuss who would be best suited to represent the country at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
He says they will have a tough time trying to qualify for just the lone spot on offer at the tournament but he feels it will be a good experience for his archers.
The competition at this year’s Olympic Games will comprise a total of 128 archers, with an equal distribution between men and women (64 per gender).
Archery at the Paris 2024 Olympics will take place in the magnificent Esplanade de Invalides, in the centre of the French capital.
The competition will run from July 25 to August 4 and award five gold medals in total – in the recurve men’s individual, recurve women’s individual, recurve men’s team, recurve women’s team, and recurve mixed team events.
The places are awarded using a qualification and quota system.
Athletes can win spaces for their countries at certain competitions during the qualifying period, which starts at the 2023 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Berlin and will end with the final qualifier in Antalya, Turkey in June 2024.
We wish Team Fiji Archery the very best.