Bhutan's archers aim high for Olympic glory

By Barry Petersen and T. Sean Herbert
Americans have baseball. In Bhutan, the national pastime -- and passion -- is archery.

Competitions bring isolated villages together across a land tucked into the Himalayas, and are so popular they attract everyone from peasant to prince. American- and Oxford-educated Prince Dasho Jigyel is a regular at tournaments. When asked the sport's role in Bhutanese culture, he replied, "Archery has played a very important part in building nationalism -- national identity through sport."             
And Prince Dasho was there with pointers for the Royal visit by that other Prince and Princess -- William and Kate. She took aim in the spirit of friendship.

Certainly friendlier than in the 1860s, when British Redcoats were kept at bay by Bhutan's long-range archers, as they did for centuries against other invaders.
Bhutanese archers today still show a rare long-distance skill, hitting three-foot-high targets a football field-and-a-half away ... and like school teacher Sonam Dorgi, competing at this local tournament, still proud of doing it the old fashioned way, with traditional bamboo bow and arrows.
Sonam showed Petersen a special bow made from a bamboo called yonka. "Almost similar but quality-wise, this yonka costs the most," Sonam said.      

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