Agreed.
I’m a lifelong archer myself, but of a very different ilk than the (to me) over-engineered, über-synthetic, gadgetized, sanitized Olympic version on display in Paris, but there still is a tangible physical aspect to the sport, with different kinds of draw sequences, little shot sequence rituals and even facial expressions between archers on show, plus the semi-visible arch of the arrows and the satisfying ‘thunk’ of the arrows driving into the target.
Some sets I happened to see, like the women’s team final, was actually kinda exciting to watch, as close as it was. And the heart rate monitor is a nice touch, emphasizing the mental battle aspect of the sport.
Watching 10 M air rifle for just fifteen minutes is pretty mind-numbing in comparison, with extremely little of anything to see. The best part is basically watching the shooters hobble off the shooting line in their heavy, stiff shooting gear, like a knight with a very ill-fitting armor.
Both shooting sports would be much better as spectator sports if the “engineered solution to every problem” approach (ie. gadgets) was abandoned, and simpler, leaner, more difficult, more physical equipment replaced it. After all, learning who’s the best shot has very little to do with the absolute level of accuracy attained - it’s all relative.
As it is, oh, how I wait for the track & field events, which are cool in part precisely because the shot that is put is the same it always was, with generation after generation playing the same, simple yet incredibly difficult, game.
