What began as a game of cowboys and indians in his backyard turned into Olympic bronze for Australian teenager Tim Cuddihy.

The 17-year-old part-time schoolboy and avid stamp collector won Australia's second Olympic archery medal, following the gold won in Sydney by his hero Simon Fairweather.

Cuddihy missed out on shooting for gold by just one point in a tense one-arrow shoot-off after the scores were even at the end of his semi-final match with Japan's Hiroshi Yamamoto.

Cuddihy, from Toowoomba but now living in Canberra, went on to beat Britain's Laurence Godfrey 113-112 in the shoot-off for third place.

Italy's Marco Galiazzo went on to win gold, beating Yamamoto 111-109.

Cuddihy's mother, together with teammates with Australian flags and wearing green and yellow wigs and hats, formed a vocal cheer squad on the marble steps of the historic Panathinaiko Stadium.

On his way to bronze, the junior world champion upset two South Koreans, each by a single point, and went on to set a new Olympic 36-arrow record of 340 over three rounds.

Cuddihy said he was over the moon to snatch the bronze from Godfrey.

"I loved it. I didn't expect to do that well, I just came for the experience and I got a medal which is a bonus," he said.

"It was a struggle but I got there."

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