New FIP initiative takes polo one-step closer to the Olympics
Since the founding of FIP in 1982, the return of polo to the Olympic Games has been a major FIP goal. Polo had been an Olympic sport in five Summer Olympics: 1900 in Paris, 1908 in London, 1920 in Antwerp, 1924 in Paris and in the 1936 In the 1936 games Argentina won Gold with a line-up of Manuel Andrada, Roberto Cavanagh, Luis Duggan and Andrés Gazzotti. England received a Silver medal with a team of David Dawnay, Bryan Fowler, Humphrey Patrick Guinness and William Hinde.
With the advent of World War II the Olympic Games were suspended and polo was dropped. The sport sadly lost many notable players and many ponies in both world wars and hasn’t return to the Olympic Community since 1936.
However, FIP has continued to work for its return to the Games and as a member of the International Olympic Committee SportsAccord became an officially recognised IOC sport. Recently FIP has had the honour of being invited to apply for inclusion as an Additive Sport at the Tokyo Games in 2020. This opportunity is the result of a new strategic initiative of the IOC to grant the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games the right to make proposals for the acceptance of additional International Olympic Committee recognised sports for their specific Olympic event.
http://www.polotimes.co.uk/?pg=35