Ice Hockey at the Summer Olympics
Ice Hockey, which is currently a part of the quadrennial Winter Olympics, was first introduced in the Summer Olympics in 1920. That was the only time the sport was played in the summer games after which it was moved to the winter games.
In its inaugural edition, seven teams, Canada, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, France, Sweden and Belgium, took part. A Bergvall System based tournament, which consisted of three rounds, in which the winner of the first round was awarded gold, second round winner won silver, and third round winner took bronze.
Canada won all the three matches they played in the first round and took the gold medal. The team was represented by all the players from their Allen Cup winning team which dominated their opponents, outscoring them by a margin of 27 to 1.
The United States, which sent its then all-star team, won the second round and took the silver medal while Czechoslovakia won the third round to secure the bronze medal.
The Bergvall System used for the tournament was criticized, because Czechoslovakia, which just won one match was awarded the bronze medal, while Sweden with three wins were left off the podium. The system was abolished for future Olympics.
Related Pages
- Ice Hockey at the Winter Olympics
- More about the Winter Olympics
- See the full list of Discontinued Games Events
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