Guillermo Hayden Wright Explained

Guillermo Hayden Wright (February 12, 1872 – 1949), or more accurately, William Hayden Wright, was an American polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Mexican polo team that won the bronze medal, alongside brothers Eustaquio, Manuel and Pablo Escandón.^[1] ^[2]

That year's polo tournament had five teams competing, most with mixed nationalities, they were the Bagatelle Polo Club de Paris, BLO Polo Club Rugby, Compiégne Polo Club, the eventual winners Foxhunters Hurlingham and the Mexican team (the only one without a team name).

Despite losing their only game against the BLO Polo Club Rugby, they were tied with the Bagatelle Polo Club de Paris, and as the rules didn't stipulate a third place playoff, they were both awarded the third place, however, their bronze medal was not recognized until time later, as back then, the winners received a silver medal instead of the actual gold and it was the second place the one that received bronze, but when current rules were established, previous results were updated and the medals were officially awarded.^[3]

Notes and References

Web site: William Wright . Olympedia . December 27, 2020 . The identity of the 1900 US polo player named Wright is not certain. We believe he is the William Hayden Wright who won the 1898-99 Paris International and the Paris Open, but some sources have him listed as Guillermo Wright, not too surprising as the rest of his 1900 polo team was Mexican. Some French sources list him as J. H. Wright, who may be either James Hayden Wright, a Boston architect who lived in Paris in 1900, or John Harvey Wright, an American living in Pau in the south of France, who was an amateur jockey and known to be a polo player. A J. H. Wright played in the Paris Cup tournament in 1898 at the Bagatelle Polo Club in Paris, but further information is lacking..
Web site: PARIS 1900 POLO MEN RESULTS . Olympics.com . August 2, 2021.
Web site: La primera presea olímpica de México . Mexico's first Olympic Games . Alfredo . Woolrich . July 24, 2012 . lcd.juanfutbol.com . es . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150930173905/http://lcd.juanfutbol.com/la-primera-presea-olimpica-de-mexico/ . September 30, 2015.