Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team's goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or "chukkers".
The 1900 Summer Olympics, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closing ceremonies were held.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, a polo tournament was contested. Matches were held on 28 May, 31 May, and 2 June. Five teams competed. Most of the teams were of mixed nationality, with British and French athletes competing on three teams. There was no playoff for third place.
Rugby union at the 1900 Summer Olympics was played in Paris. Rugby union matches at the 1900 Summer Olympics were held on 14 October and 28 October. Forty-seven athletes competed, most from three nations and including a Haitian and a French-born American.
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 and 1932. Women's football was added to the official program at the Atlanta 1996 Games.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested.
The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in 42 acres (17 ha) of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs.
Cycle polo, bicycle polo, or bike polo is a team sport, similar to traditional polo, except that bicycles are used instead of horses. There are two versions of the sport: grass and Hardcourt Bike Polo. The hardcourt game saw a sharp spike in interest in the first decade of the 21st century and new teams are sprouting up across the world in China, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, France, India, Germany, Pakistan, Ukraine, Russia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, England, Scotland, Argentina, Italy, Spain, USA, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Nepal, Brazil and Cuba.
Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB. Athletes from Northern Ireland can also choose to compete as part of Team Ireland instead. It has sent athletes to every Summer and Winter Games, since the start of the Olympics' modern era in 1896, including the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were boycotted by a number of other Western nations. From 1896 to 2020 inclusive, Great Britain & NI has won 918 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 32 at the Winter Olympic Games. It is the only national team to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games, lying third globally in the winning of total medals, surpassed only by the United States and the former Soviet Union.
The modern Olympic Games were founded by French historian Pierre de Coubertin, and France has competed in each edition, with the possible exception of the 1904 Games.
Water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since the second games, in 1900. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Hungary has been the most successful country in men's tournament, while the United States is the only team to win multiple times at the women's tournament since its introduction. Italy is the first and only country to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed as the host nation of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The British Olympic Association was the National Olympic Committee responsible for organising the United Kingdom's representation. At the time British athletes competed under the team name "United Kingdom". The British team comprised 676 competitors.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 234 competitors, 218 men and 16 women, took part in 84 events in 21 sports. British athletes won fourteen gold medals and 43 medals overall, finishing third. It would be the last Olympic Games in which Irish athletes participated under Great Britain, after foundation of Irish Free State in 1922.
A polo tournament was contested at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. The competition ran from 28 June to 12 July at the Château de Bagatelle and the Saint-Cloud Racecourse, with five teams competing. Argentina won the gold medal, beating all four of the other nations in the country's Olympic polo debut. Silver went to the United States, which played in—and won—the first three games of the tournament before a close-played (6–5) loss to Argentina in game 6. Great Britain, the two-time defending champions, finished with bronze.
Polo returned to the Olympic program at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, after not being contested at the 1928 Games or 1932 Games. The 1936 tournament was the last time that the sport was contested at the Olympic Games. Argentina repeated as champions, winning gold medals in both of the Games in which the nation competed. Great Britain took silver; British polo players had earned medals in all five of the Olympic polo tournaments. Mexico took bronze, matching its previous performance in 1900.
The Roehampton trophy is the oldest polo trophy in the United Kingdom. The trophy was first played for at the Roehampton Club in 1902 and was won by Buccaneers. Today it is played for at the Ham Polo Club, the tournament is played for at an 6-goal level and the finals are held in August.
Captain Charles Thomas Irvine "Pat" Roark (1895–1939) was an English polo player. He held a ten goal handicap at the peak of his career.
The Roehampton Club is a private members’ sports club in Roehampton in southwest London, England. It is set in 100 acres (400,000 m2) of parkland, close to Richmond Park. Originally established in 1901 as an officers’ polo club, the Roehampton Club has sporting and leisure facilities including an 18-hole golf course, 28 tennis courts, 6 squash courts, 4 croquet lawns, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a gym, a fitness studio, a health and beauty clinic and a bridge room.
The Oxford University Polo Club is the Discretionary Full Blue sports club for competitive polo at Oxford University. Founded in 1874, it is one of the four oldest continuing polo clubs worldwide. Its annual Varsity Match against Cambridge University Polo Club, established in 1878, is the second oldest continuing polo fixture in the Western world. It is played at Guards Polo Club, England, usually at the beginning of June.
The Varsity Polo Match is an annual polo match between the Oxford University Polo Club and the Cambridge University Polo Club, played between teams of four players. Historically it was known as the inter-University Challenge Cup or inter-Varsity polo match. It is also known as the Oxford-Cambridge Polo Match or by a title that includes the name of its current sponsor. Members of both teams are traditionally known as Blues, with Oxford in dark blue and Cambridge in light blue.
