The first day of Olympic Round action produced a string of surprise results as some of the biggest stars in women’s archery failed to cope with the contrasting conditions. Among the stars to be eliminated were former world champion Natalia Valeeva of Italy, Turkish hero Natalia Nazaridze and China’s Lin Sang.

As the three Koreans on top of the rankings advanced – Park Sung Hyun, Lee Sung Jin and Yun Mi Jin – the story of the day was the performances of Olympians from some of the smaller nations in the archery family.

Bhutan’s Tshering Choden caused the first major shock by beating China’s Lin 159-156. Then, Jasmin Figueroa enjoyed the greatest victory of her career by beating the feted Valeeva 132-130 as the whacky winds played havoc with the Italian’s concentration.

An audience of more than 1500 watched as the first Olympic competition in 108 years got underway in clear, calm conditions. American Jennifer Nichols shot the first competition arrow in Panathinaiko – it scored a nine and Nichols went on to beat Indonesia’s Rina Dewi Puspitasari 160-151.

By the afternoon, scores were way down as the winds swirled around the venue. It made for some very interesting results and matches. A happy, raucous Greek crowd enjoyed wins from two of its archers – the in-form Evangelia Psarra and Elpida Romantzi.

A historic four arrow tie breaker occurred in the match between Poland’s Malgorzata Sobieraj and Thin Khaing Daw Thin of Myanmar. It was only the second time in Olympic history four arrows had been required to decide a tie.

The women’s individual event continues on Tuesday, August 17. The men’s individual event starts tomorrow, August 16.