At the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

, a

polo 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 ...

tournament was contested. It was the second time the sport had been featured at the Olympics, with

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

being its first appearance. The venue was the Hurlingham Polo Grounds in London. The Hurlingham Club presented a Challenge Cup to the winner of the tournament, which consisted of three teams. All three teams represented the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

, with two from England and one from Ireland. The two English teams played each first, with the winner playing against the Irish team.

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

won both games, taking the gold medal, while the other two teams did not face each other to break the tie for second place.

Background

This was the second time that polo was played at the Olympics; the sport had previously appeared in 1900 and would appear again in 1920, 1924, and 1936. Each time, the tournament was for men only. No nations made their debut in polo in 1908, as Great Britain was the only nation represented and was making its second appearance.

Competition format

Only two games were played. The winner of the first game played the team that had a bye. Games were played in six periods of ten minutes each.Official Report, p. 521.

Medal table

Medal summary

Team rosters

Hurlingham

Walter Buckmaster Walter Selby Buckmaster (16 October 1872 – 30 October 1942) was a British polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics and in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography He was born on 16 October 1872 in Wimbledon, Surrey, the son of Thomas Walter ...

Frederick Freake Sir Frederick Charles Maitland Freake, 3rd Baronet (7 March 1876 – 22 December 1950) was a British polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics and in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography He was born on 7 March 1876 and was educated at Magda ...

* Walter Jones * John Wodehouse

Ireland

John Hardress Lloyd Brigadier-General John Hardress Lloyd (14 August 1874 – 28 February 1952) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and polo player. He was awarded a DSO and made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur for his service in the British Army during the Fi ...

John Paul McCann John Paul McCann (25 August 1879 – 24 August 1952) was an Irish polo player who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Together with Percy O'Reilly, John Hardress Lloyd and Auston Rotheram, he was a member of the Ireland team that won a ...

Percy O'Reilly Captain Percy Philip O'Reilly (27 July 1870 – 3 July 1942) of Colamber Westmeath, was an Irish polo player who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Together with John Paul McCann, John Hardress Lloyd and Auston Rotheram, he was a member of ...

* Auston Rotherham

Roehampton

Charles Darley Miller Charles Darley Miller (October 23, 1868 – December 22, 1951) was a British polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics as a member of the British polo team ''Roehampton'', which won the gold medal. Biography Miller was educat ...

George Arthur Miller George Arthur Miller (6 December 1867 – 21 February 1935), was a British polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics as a member of the British polo team ''Roehampton'', which won the gold medal. Miller was educated at Marlbor ...

Patteson Womersley Nickalls Patteson Womersley Nickalls (23 January 1877 – 10 September 1946), was an English polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain. Biography Nickalls was born on 23 January 1877 at North Weald, Essex, the son ...

Herbert Haydon Wilson Herbert Haydon Wilson, DSO (14 February 1875 – 11 April 1917) was a British officer and polo player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography Wilson was the youngest son of Sir Samuel Wilson, of Victoria, Australia. He was ...

Results

Game 1

Hurlingham scored first, with a goal in the second period by Jones. It would be the only goal scored by the team, however, as Roehampton answered with two goals in the third and added another in the fifth.

Game 2

The second game was decidedly more lopsided than the first, with Roehampton scoring twice in the first period and Miller adding three more himself in the second. Ireland scored its only goal shortly before the end of the match, when the team was already down 8-0.

Sources

* * {{Polo at the Summer Olympics 1908 Summer Olympics events

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

Polo competitions in the United Kingdom 1908 in polo 1908 in Irish sport Men's events at the 1908 Summer Olympics