The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro welcome back two sports to the Games: golf and rugby. Both sports earned enough votes at the 121st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Copenhagen in 2009 to beat out baseball, karate, roller sports, squash, and softball for the two coveted spots. Both of these sports were part of the Olympic Games in the early 20th century but had been discontinued until now.
Rugby sevens received tremendous support from the IOC, winning 81 votes to 8, with one abstention. Rugby sevens is a faster, more-explosive version of the well-known rugby union: there are 7 players per side rather than 15, and the games are much shorter, with 7-minute halves in pool matches and 10-minute halves in the finals. The founding member of the IOC, Pierre, baron de Coubertin, had a passion for rugby and included the fifteens version of the game in the Olympics between 1900 and 1924. When he retired in 1924, rugby union ceased to be an Olympic sport.
For both the men’s and women’s tournaments, 12 teams will be competing in three pools. Each team earns three points for a win, two points for a draw, and one point for a loss. The top two teams from each pool, as well as the two highest-ranked third-place teams, will move on to the semifinals. The women’s tournament will be held from August 6 to 8, with the men’s following on August 9 to 11.
The 2016 Summer Olympics marks golf’s third appearance at the games; the sport last appeared in the 1900 Paris and 1904 St. Louis games. Paris included both a men’s and a women’s tournament. The women’s title was claimed by American Margaret Abbot, and fellow Americans Pauline Whittier and Daria Pratt took silver and bronze, respectively. American Charles Sands won the gold for the inaugural men’s tournament. In St. Louis four years later, the women’s competition was replaced by men’s team competition, and three different U.S. teams swept the tournament. For the men’s competition, Canadian golfer George Lyon took the gold.
In Rio the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament will each include 60 contestants competing over four rounds on an 18-hole course. The male and female athletes with the fewest number of strokes over the four rounds will win the gold. The men’s tournament will take place from August 11 to 14; the women’s tournament will take place from August 17 to 20.