U.S. Olympic Archery Team

Archery first showed up on the Olympic calendar in 1900, but then disappeared in 1920. More than 50 years later, it reappeared in 1972 and has remained there ever since. The tools of the trade are modern, though: bows are coated in fiberglass and arrows are made of aluminum and carbon graphite.

It took eight months to determine which expert American archers will compete in the Beijing Olympics, but in May the battle ended in Phoenix with the selection of five top athletes, two women and three men.

On the women’s side, the two qualifiers were Jennifer Nichols (pictured here, she competed in 2004’s Olympic games) and Khatuna Lorig, who will be representing her third country in her fourth Olympic games.

On the men’s side, two of the three men — Butch Johnson and Victor Wonderle — are also Olympic vets. The five are:

Brady Ellison (Glendale, Ariz.)

Richard “Butch” Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.)

Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, Calif.)

Jennifer Nichols (Cheyenne, Wyo.)

Victor Wunderle (Mason City, Ill.)

To learn more about archery in the Olympics, go to the official website. If you want to see all U.S. Olympic qualifiers in every sport for the Beijing games starting in August, start your search on this official U.S. Olympics page.