There have been some incredible technological advances in archery over the past couple of hundred years, but we are about to see a huge technological leap with new nano materials. Arrows and bows made out of carbon nano tubes, graphene, and bucky paper will make arrows super strong, and very accurate, as well as thinner and thus, faster.
For the crossbow hunter this gives them a superb advantage over wild game. Almost to the point that it isn’t fair, of course it wouldn’t be fair to hunt wild mammals with a sniper rifle either. And if you are hunting something that could hurt you, you don’t necessarily want it to be a fair fight anyway. Still, with these new high-tech materials there will be no competition.
There will however be competition in archery, as these new materials are being used by all participants. The accuracy ratios will be nearly unheard-of, the distances to the target can be increased, but the accuracy will get even better. Right now the manufacturers of these nano to materials have a few hurdles and barriers to cross, but within the next five years they will revolutionize the sport of archery.
It will be very interesting to see what the Olympic judges determine when using these new more accurate materials. We are already seeing with high-tech swimsuits, and special prosthesis running legs, that they given a very banished. In the archery space each athlete is allowed to use the same high-tech materials, and thus, it evens out any advantage.
Still, for the very first contestants and archery athletes that have these new materials, they will have an advantage for at least the length of time until their competitors get the same tools. Please consider all this.