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A R C H I V E
IMAGE COURTESY OF NIGEL À BRASSARD
G O L D S T A N D A R D
The polo tournament of the 1924 Paris
Olympics was significant for Argentina
for two reasons. Firstly, it resulted in the
country’s first Olympic gold medal win
in any sport, and secondly, it marked one
of the first steps towards Argentina’s
hegemony in international polo.
Argentina sent one athlete to each
of the 1900, 1908 and 1920 Olympic Games,
to compete in fencing, figure skating and
boxing respectively, but all three returned
without a medal from each of the Games.
But in 1924, Argentina entered 77 athletes
and, in addition to taking the gold in polo,
also won silver and bronze in the
triple-jump and boxing.
Although polo was an Olympic event in
1900, 1908 and 1920, Argentina did not send
teams. The match between Argentina and the
USA at the 1924 Games was the first contest
between these countries on an international
stage and was, effectively, the Olympic final.
Argentina sent Jack Nelson, Arturo Kenny,
Juan Miles and Enrique Padilla as its team,
and the USA chose Tommy Hitchcock,
Elmer Boeseke, Frederick Roe and Rodman
Wanamaker. Almost 8,000 spectators – the
largest crowd of the tournament – watched
Argentina beat the USA by 6 goals to 5.
Nelson retrieved the ball, with which he
scored the winning goal, and it is now
displayed in the AAP’s Palermo office.
At Nelson’s suggestion, an Argentina vs
USA polo competition was organised and
the
Copa de Las Americas
(the Cup of the
Americas), was inaugurated. In 1928 and
1932, the honours at the Cup went to the
USA, but Argentina were victorious on the
six other occasions it was played.
Argentina also took gold at the Berlin
Olympic Games in 1936, having sent
Andrés Gazzotti, Manuel Andrada, Roberto
Cavanagh and Luis Duggan to see off
challengers Great Britain in a conclusive
11-0 final. And as polo has not featured on
the Olympic line-up since, Argentina are
left to reign as historic world champions,
unchallenged in the Olympic arena.
Nigel à Brassard traces Argentina’s international polo prominence
back to their first national gold medal win in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games
