Polo at the 1908 Summer Olympics


At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a polo tournament was contested. It was the second time the sport had been featured at the Olympics, with 1900 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, with two from England and one from Ireland. The two English teams played each first, with the winner playing against the Irish team. Roehampton won both games, taking the gold medal, while the other two teams did not face each other to break the tie for second place.

Medal table

PositionCountryGoldSilverBronzeTotal
11203

Medal summary

GoldSilverBronze

Roehampton
Charles Darley Miller
George Arthur Miller
Patteson Womersley Nickalls
Herbert Haydon Wilson

Hurlingham
Walter Buckmaster
Frederick Freake
Walter Jones
John Wodehouse

Ireland
John Hardress Lloyd
John Paul McCann
Percy O'Reilly
Auston Rotherham
None awarded

Team rosters

Hurlingham

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.