LONDON -- For the past six Summer Olympics, the deep, baritone voice of George Tekmitchov has been a constant on archery ranges where stars have soared and giants have fallen.

A former U.S. national team archer and currently an engineer by trade, Tekmitchov has provided play-by-play, or arrow-by-arrow, commentary on the field during every Olympic archery competition since the 1992 Barcelona Games. He reads scores on the target on the PA system and explains how many points an archer needs to clinch a victory in final moments. He whips up the crowd with a shout of "10" after each bull's-eye, as the word "applause" flashes on the big screen at Lord's Cricket Ground.

In between shots or matches, Tekmitchov also tells fans in the stands to turn off flash photography so as not to disrupt archers on the field of play. And once in a while, the American plays with

the audience, too.

When an 8 from a South Korean archer drew "oohs" from the audience last weekend, Tekmitchov quipped, "Tough crowd."

Over his announcing career, he has seen his share of South Korean stars, and he said he reserves a special place in his heart for them.

"The Korean archers are the benchmark for performance in the sport of archery," he said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency before the round-of-16 matches began in women's individual competition Thursday. "All of us respect the archers of Korea and the effort that they put in."

Tekmitchov said South Korean archers also "uphold the image of our sport at the highest level."

"All of them come across very professional in their uniforms, their demeanor, their shooting and their celebration," he said.

"Everything they do is first class. For me, Korean archers are the pinnacle and the benchmark, and the goal for other archers around the world."

What keeps Tekmitchov coming back to archery, after three decades in the sport, is the challenge it presents.

"You always try to get that perfect result. But being human, we can never be perfect," he said. "You feel the goal is attainable and you try to get close to the goal. That is the challenge that keeps us motivated and keeps us interested in archery."

He was a four-time member of the U.S. national team, and competed at the 2004 World Archery Field Championships in Croatia and at the 2005 World Games in Germany. Today, he is an engineer for Easton, a Salt Lake City-based sporting goods company building archery equipment. It supplies the South Korean team with arrows, Tekmitchov said.

And having been a competitive archer, Tekmitchov said he gets a kick out of every up-close victory.

"Certainly, seeing the emotion of the shooter on the field of play when they've achieved their lifelong goal is always a satisfying experience," he said. "Every time someone wins gold after overcoming adversity, it's an emotional moment."

But during matches, Tekmitchov said he tries to check his personal feelings at the door and provide unbiased commentary. He admitted he has some personal favorite archers, including South Koreans, but these archers deserve "completely impartial" commentary from him.

This is Tekmitchov's sixth Olympics, and he believes "delightful" London is on the top of the list.

"This facility is one of the nicest facilities I've ever seen," he said. "I was very nervous because of media reports about traffic and infrastructure problems. I was pleasantly surprised. I believe right now, this is the best archery event in the Olympics yet."

(Yonhap News)