Darrell Owen Pace (born October 23, 1956) is a former

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, who won two individual

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

titles each during his career. In 2011, as part of the

World Archery Federation The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 nationa ...

's 80th anniversary celebration, he was declared as by the WAF as "Archer of the Century"

Career

Three years after taking up the sport, Pace, at the age of 16, became the youngest member of the U. S. team at the archery world championships, where he finished twenty-third. Pace went on to win four consecutive national archery championships, from 1973 through 1976. He also won the title in 1978 and 1980. He won the world title in 1975 and 1979 and finished second to long-time rival Richard McKinney in 1983. After winning an Olympic gold medal in 1976, Pace was selected for the 1980 Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

instead. In 1984, he took a 13-point lead after the first day of the four-day competition and won an easy victory.Darrell Pace
sports-reference.com Pace also competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, finishing ninth in the individual competition and winning a silver medal in the team event along with McKinney and

Jay Barrs Jack Leonard "Jay" Barrs, Jr. (born July 17, 1962) is an American archer. He won a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is aNAANational Outdoor Champion and FITA World Field Champion, as well as a fourteen timNAAUS Field Champion. Barrs ...

. Darrell O. Pace Park, located in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at ...

, is a park named in his honor. In 1974, at the US Nationals in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, Pace set his first FITA record of 1291 beating John Williams' record of 1268 shot at the 1972 Olympics. He broke that in 1975 at the Nationals with the first 1300 in history; he got 1316. In 1978, Ferrari from Italy broke that with a 1318. Darrell then shattered that the next year in 1979 with a 1341 in Japan; that record stood for 10 years. All in all Pace held the Total FITA world record for 14 years, raising the record a total of 71 points in 5 years.

References

External links

USA Archery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Darrell 1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Cincinnati American male archers Archers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Archers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Archers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in archery Olympic silver medalists for the United States in archery Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in archery Congressional Gold Medal recipients Archers at the 1979 Pan American Games Archers at the 1983 Pan American Games Archers at the 1987 Pan American Games Archers at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games