2024-07-23 09:03:46
Rugby has not been in the Olympic Games for a long time, before its introduction in 2009, for the Rio Games, in the form of a competition made by 7 teams. Even if it has competed for the third time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this “Sevens” competition seems to be firmly in the Olympic landscape, even more so this year, with the spotlight placed on it by the arrival of the tricolor star Antoine Dupont. What we know less, however, is that it is more that we return the oval ball to the games. In fact it has appeared on the program during four Olympic Games, in the years 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924, in the form most known today, of XV.
Why such a shortcut? Mainly because many restrictions restrict the number of agents. Between the variable geometric spread of this sport – it is still valid a hundred years later – and the difficulties of travel, especially for countries in the Southern Hemisphere, only two to three countries participate in the four competitions each. In other words, putting a foot on the ground is enough to be awarded.
Overcrowding in camps
The last competition between fifteen players at the Games also caused the loss of the discipline. In Colombes, France – United States final, on May 18, 1924, turned into a disaster. On the field, the Blues were outscored 17-3, a huge gap because the effort was then worth three points. The match was rough, two French players were injured without being able to replace him. But contrary to history, these were not the heights of cruelty either – at least, by the standards of the time.
To find traces of the destructive climate, we must instead look at the ends of the new Colombes stadium, the future Yves-du-Manoir stadium, the field hockey hole in the 2024 Olympics against the leader, boos for the American anthem and slander with the workers against it. A fight broke out between the supporters of the two camps, taking a “Team USA” fan to the hospital, who had been hit by a pole. After their victory, the Americans must return to their bus taken by the police.
The departure of Coubertin sounded the death knell for the XV at the Games
All this did not speak in favor of rugby, which also lost significant support in 1925, with the departure of Baron Pierre de Coubertin from the Olympic Committee. At the same time, the schedule of the Games was much reduced: while they were spread over two months, the Amsterdam Olympics only lasted two weeks. It is impossible, despite the very small cast, to hold the Olympic competition in such a short time. In addition to this skepticism of the Dutch organizers in the face of a very small sport in their country, rugby lost its Olympic approval.
He will be seen again in ninety-two years after the “bull of Colombes”, but in the form of 7-a-team Here again, temporary obstacles prevail, because the special rest period between the two matches (one week) creates an obstacle. back XV. This did not arise in fact, since the discipline was set at the end of Olympism, with the arrival of the Five Nations Competition then the Six Nations, and, above all, the arrival of the Olympic Race, in 1987. In fact, the organizers therefore wanted to promote rugby sevens, a discipline emerging more accessible to neophytes, due to its simple rules, and compatibility with a more compact calendar.
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