Golf — Sports Network

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One of the new features of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics is the return of golf to being an Olympic sport after more than a century of absence. The sport’s first and only appearances at the Games were held in Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904. News of golf’s return to the Olympic program was confirmed in October 2009 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The origins of modern golf go back to the 15th century in Scotland. But the sport was not well received at first. Along with football, the sport was banned, on charges of disturbing the practice of archery, which was not only a sport but also important for the defense of the Scottish people at that time.

The first rules were drawn up only in the middle of the eighteenth century. In the following century, the first golf course and the first women’s association for the sport were opened in the United Kingdom. Later, in 1894, the North American Golf Association (USGA) was created. The following year, the US Open was held for the first time.

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At the 1900 Paris Olympics, North American golfers Charles Sands and Margaret Abbott were the sport’s first Olympic champions. In Rio de Janeiro, 120 athletes are expected to compete for medals, 60 for men and 60 for women.

Curiosity

First medalists

Of the four gold medals awarded for golf at the Olympics so far, three have gone to the United States. At the 1900 Olympics in France, Charles Sands and Margaret Abbott wrote their names in history. And not just golf. In Sands’ case, for example, this was only his first Olympic appearance. In addition to participating in tennis in 1900, the North American competed in jeu de paume—a type of tennis played with two hands—in 1908, a sport played only that year, in London.

In the case of Margaret Abbott, her participation in Paris 1900 was significant because she was the first woman from the United States to win a gold medal. Interestingly, Marguerite, who was in Paris studying art, participated in the tournament without knowing that it was a copy of the Olympic Games.

The Canadian outsider

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were practically a national championship for the United States. The games were mainly contested by the North Americans themselves, with the home team almost completely dominating podium finishes. But in golf, a Canadian with an unusual story left all his rivals behind and took home the gold medal.

George Lyon can be considered a freak athlete. After playing baseball, cricket and tennis, he only started playing golf when he was 38 years old. Eight years later, at the age of 46, he competed in the sport at the 1904 Olympics and, to everyone’s surprise, came in first place. In addition to his age and little time spent in the sport, Lyon drew attention for his unconventional technique, in which he would handle a golf club as if he were handling a cricket bat. An outgoing man, he cracked jokes on the course and, in his own inimitable way, took to the golf podium alongside Americans H.J. Chandler Edgan and Bert McKinney.

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