According to the Olympic Charter, established by Pierre de Coubertin, the goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

Polo

Polo is considered the oldest mounted team sport, with a history reaching back centuries, when it was played in the plains of Asia, ancient Persia, China and India. Polo was on the Olympic program in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936.

With matchless team play and superb riding the Argentinian players light shirts ward off the attack of a Mexican horseman Polo Berlin Olympic Games 1936



Berlin 1936

POLO AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Polo made its first Olympic appearance in 1900 in Paris, only 24 years after it became an accepted sport I England and in the United States. The Olympic Games were held as part of the Paris Exposition that year, and although the basics of the game have remained unchanged. The organizational format was completely different. What seems to have been the scarcity of world-class players apparently made it necessary for players from USA, England, Spain, France, and Mexico to join together to form four competitive mixed teams. The gold medal winner was a team called the Foxhunters, with the 10-goal American player, and legendary all-around athlete Foxhall Keene playing with Alfred Rawlinson and John Beresford from England, and Frank Mackey, also from the USA.

After a hiatus in 1904, polo was again a part of the action when London hosted the 1908 Olympic Games. The logistics of moving horses more than 7,000 miles must have been prohibitive even for the enthusiastic American, because the USA did not participate. Instead the English and the Irish teams were the only ones that competed. The gold medal went to England.

The Olympic Games where held in Belgium in 1920.  Teams from Belgium, England, Spain, and USA all competed. The medal round was played between England and Spain, and after a close match that was the lead change hands with every chukker, England took the gold with a 13-11 score.

In 1924, the Olympic Games returned to Paris. Five teams competed, with Argentina making its first Olympic appearance against the USA, England, Spain, and France. The USA field a talented and strong 26-goald four-man team anchored by the quintessential polo player, 10-goal Tommy Hitchcock.

Emerging as the new polo power, Argentina remained undefeated during the playoffs and then played the USA to a 5-5 tie in six chukkers of intense polo. In the closing seconds of the overtime chukker, an Argentine player, Juan Nelson, snuck one through the uprights. Argentina won and took home its first gold behind a score of 6-5.

The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin, and organized by the Third Reich. War in Europe seemed all but imminent.  Argentina dominated the 1936 Olympic Games. The crowds where large and knowledgeable and filled the stadium over and over as England eliminated first Mexico, then Hungary and finally Germany.  Argentina, however, seemed unbeatable; in fact, they went undefeated in the playoffs. The finals were even more convincing, Argentina triumphed over England, there last hurdle to a gold, by an 11-0 margin.

Polo never returned to the Olympic competition, but the memory of those heady days lived on in the collective consciousness of the players. When the Federation of International Polo (FIP) was organized in 1982, in response to the growing internationalization of the sport, a return to the Olympic Games once more became a goal and a possibility.

In 1998, the first and perhaps most important step has been taken to one day return polo to the Olympic Games. FIP was granted “outright recognition” as the “Recognized Federation” to represent the sport of polo by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This official recognition means that FIP and the IOC are working closely together to prepare the Federation and its members for participation in future Olympic GaMES.

OLYMPIC POLO GOLD MEDALLIST 1900-1936

Paris 1900 –Great Britain
Capt The Hon John Beresford (later 5th Lord Decies) 7th Hussars
Foxhall Parker Keene
Denis St. George Daly
Frank Jay Mackey
Alfred Toby Rawlinson (later 3erd Baronet)

London 1908 – Great Britain
Charles Darley Miller
George Arthur Miller
Patterson Wormersley Nickalls
Capt. Herbert Wilson DSO

Antwerp 1920 – Great Britain
Mayor Frederick “Rattle” Barret
Lt.Col Philip Teignmounth Melvin DSO, 17th sLancers
Major Vivian Lockett, 17th Lancers
Lord Wodehouse (later Earl of Kimberly)

Paris 1924 - Argentina
Arturo Kenny
Jack Nelson
Capt. Enrique Padilla
John Miles

Berlin- 1936 – Argentina
(Beat Great Britain 11-0 in deciding match)
Manuel Andrada
Andres Gazzoti
Roberto Cavanagh
Luis Duggan