Archery had been contested at the 1900 and 1904 Olympic Games. In 1900, the sport was held virtually as a French national archery contest, with thousands of entrants qualifying from around the country. In 1904, only Americans competed at the St. Louis Olympic archery events.

It was only marginally different in 1908. There were three events, two for men and one for women. Most of the competitors were British with a number of Frenchmen shooting in the men's events. One American also competed. The events were all held on the grass in the centre of the main stadium infield.

The first day of shooting, Friday, 17 July, was devoted to the Gentlemen's Double York Round and the Ladies' Double National Round. Competition began at 10 in the morning, and was frequently interrupted by rain, with a strong wind also bothering the contestants. Still, the day's shooting finished by 2 PM (1400). The next morning, competition started at 11, as those two events were finished. It did not rain, but The Archer's Register noted that "For the time of year it was bitterly cold, the wind being again very strong and trying, as it eddied round the huge arena with its towering array of seats."

The third event, shooting in the Continental Style, took place on Monday, 20 July. As the name would suggest, most of the competitors were from the continent – France. Officially, of the 17 archers, there was only one from Britain and one American. However, eight British archers took part unofficially. Their scores are found in The Archer's Register, not having been published in the Official Report.

[William Dod] led after the first day, scoring 403 with 91 hits, to lead [Reginald Brooks-King], who posted marks of 393 and 93. [John Penrose] was 3rd after day one, with [Henry Richardson] only in 5th place. On Saturday, Richardson had the highest score, with 417 points and 93 hits, followed by Dod who scored 412 with 94 hits. However, Dod's marks sufficed to keep him in the lead and earn him the gold medal.

William Dod was certainly not favored. Since 1900, the British National Championship had been divided among Brooks-King (5 titles - 1900, 1902-03, 1906, 1908), with John Penrose, [John Bridges], Eyre Hussey, and [Hugh Nesham] winning a single championship.

Dod would win his only British title in 1909. He was the brother of [Lottie Dod], the runner-up in the women's archery, and likely the greatest female all-arounder in British sporting history. They were appropriately descended from Sir Antony Dod of Edge, who commanded the English archers at Agincourt. From a wealthy family, William Dod never had to worry about school or work, and spent his time in the pursuit of his sporting interests. He was also quite accomplished in golf and big game hunting.

Continental style refers to the fact that the arrows for this distance were shot one at a time, as opposed to proper rounds in which the arrows are shot in flights of three. Eight British archers competed unofficially in this event, at the request of the French archers, according to the Official Report. We have listed them among the official contestants to indicate approximately where they would have placed, but they had no official placings. All eight had also competed in the Gentlemen's Double York Round. The leader among the unofficial contestants, [Robert Backhouse], would have finished second and was awarded a Diploma of Merit for his efforts.

Little is known about the winner, [Eugène Grisot]. But 12 years later, at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Grisot competed in the Olympics again in archery, winning three medals in the team events that year, finishing his Olympic career with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze medal.

[Lottie Dod] took the lead on the first day with a score of 348 points and 66 hits, with [Queenie Newall] trailing, scoring 338 despite hitting the same number of targets. Nobody else was really close. On Saturday, the 18th, Queenie Newall scored well, leading the archers that day with 350 points but by a slim margin, as [Beatrice Hill-Lowe] was 2nd on the day with 343. Lottie Dod collapsed completely on the second day, scoring only 294, which trailed five other archers.

Sybil Fenton "Queenie" Newall's victory still allows her the claim of being the oldest woman to win an Olympic medal or gold medal - she was 4 months short of her 54th birthday during the archery event. Newall won the British championship in archery in both 1911 and 1912 but she was far from the top female shooter of the era. That honor falls to Alice Legh, the greatest British archer ever, who won 23 national championships between 1886 and 1922. Legh elected not to compete at the Olympic event, which she almost certainly would have won. The following week at Oxford, she defeated Newall by 151 points.

The runner-up, Lottie Dod, who was the sister of the men's 1908 Olympic champion [William Dod], never won a British title in archery. But she is certainly the greatest all-around British sportswoman. She remains the youngest ever champion at Wimbledon, having won the ladies' singles in 1887 aged only 15. It was her first of five Wimbledon singles' titles, but she retired from tennis in 1893 and turned to other sports. She played hockey (field) for England in 1899-1900 and in golf, won the British Ladies' Amateur Championship in 1904, after reaching the semi-finals in 1898 and 1899.