Polo is the world’s oldest known team sports. It was at first a training game for cavalry units, usually king’s guards or elite troops
Nowadays, Argentina is credited globally as the Meca of Polo. Argentina is notably the country with the largest number ever of 10 handicap players in the world, and the best horses (Polo Argentino breed).
Polo Facts
- The game is said to have originated in Persia, which is present day Iran.
- The British were introduced to the sport in India in the late 19th Century, and went on to establish the rules of the modern game. British settlers introduced the game in Argentina in the 1870s
- A polo team is made up of four riders and their horses, with the aim being to drive a small white wooden or plastic ball into the opposition’s goal
- A game consists of four to eight periods called chukkas. Each chukka lasts seven minutes
- Polo was an Olympic sport from 1900 to 1936. Argentina are the reigning Olympic champion
- The game is played professionally in 16 countries
- Polo was enthusiastically adopted by Argentina after the British began playing it in the country in the 1870s, and its popularity has never waned.
- In the current world rankings nine of the top 10 players are from Argentina, as are 15 of the top 2
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