World Team Olympiad

The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women ("Open" and "Women" categories in WBF terms). A parallel event for seniors was inaugurated in 2000.

Although the Olympiad has been discontinued, its main constituent championships continue within or beside the World Mind Sports Games, first held October 2008 in Beijing, China,[1] and the subsequent results are listed here. In 2016, the events were run separately, as the World Bridge Games, in Wrocław, Poland.

The 1960 "Olympiad" was the first meet organized by the WBF, although the organization has adopted one older event that now confers the title World Champion, the Bermuda Bowl competition.

The Olympiad championships differed from other world-level championships for "national" teams primarily by inviting every WBF member country to enter a team in each tournament. Other world championships, including the older Bermuda Bowl for open teams that is now contested every odd-number year, require qualification at a "zone" level. For example, about 40 national open teams from European Bridge League member countries may compete biennially for about six entries in the Bermuda Bowl tournament.

Over the twelve World Team Olympiad cycles, the fields grew from 29 open and 14 women teams in 1960 to 72 open, 43 women, and 29 seniors teams in 2004. For the first World Mind Sports Games there were 71 open and 54 women entries; the Seniors International Cup continued as a non-medal event with 32 entries. Seniors participation increased to 34 at the second WMSG in 2012 while the numbers of open and women entries dropped to 60 and 43.[2]

Open Teams

Teams representing Italy and France won five and four of the twelve Open Team Olympiad tournaments. The Italian Blue Team won three in a row 1964 to 1972, overlapping its run of ten Bermuda Bowls (1957–1969). Another Italian team won the last two Olympiads and made it three in a row in the first rendition as part of the World Mind Sports Games, 2000 to 2008, overlapping its run of seven European championships (1995–2006).

Year, Host, Entries		Medalists
1960[3] Turin, Italy 29 teams	1.	France René Bacherich, Gérard Bourchtoff, Claude Delmouly, Pierre Ghestem, Pierre Jaïs, Roger Trézel
	2.	Great Britain Jeremy Flint, Nico Gardener, Terence Reese, Albert Rose, Boris Schapiro, Ralph Swimer
	3.	USA Vanderbilt 1 B. Jay Becker, John Crawford, Norman Kay, George Rapée, Sidney Silodor, Tobias Stone
1964[4] New York City, USA 29	1.	Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci
	2.	USA Bob Hamman, Robert F. Jordan, Don Krauss, Victor Mitchell, Arthur Robinson, Sam Stayman
	3.	Great Britain Jeremy Flint, Maurice Harrison-Gray, Kenneth Konstam, Terence Reese, Boris Schapiro, Joel Tarlo
1968[5] Deauville, France 33	1.	Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci
	2.	USA Robert F. Jordan, Edgar Kaplan, Norman Kay, Arthur Robinson, Bill Root, Al Roth
	3.	Canada Gerry Charney, Bill Crissey, C. Bruce Elliott, Sami Kehela, Eric Murray, Percy Sheardown
1972[6] Miami Beach, USA 39	1.	Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci
	2.	USA Bobby Goldman, Bob Hamman, Jim Jacoby, Mike Lawrence, Paul Soloway, Bobby Wolff
	3.	Canada Gerry Charney, Bill Crissey, Bruce Gowdy, Sami Kehela, Eric Murray, Duncan Phillips
1976[7] Monte Carlo, Monaco 45	1.	Brazil Pedro Paulo Assumpção, Sérgio Barbosa, Marcelo Branco, Gabriel Chagas, Gabino Cintra, Christiano Fonseca
	2.	Italy Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet, Arturo Franco, Benito Garozzo, Carlo Mosca, Silvio Sbarigia
	3.	Great Britain Willie Coyle, Jeremy Flint, Tony Priday, Claude Rodrigue, Irving Rose, Robert Sheehan
1980[8] Valkenburg, Netherlands 58 teams	1.	France Paul Chemla, Michel Lebel, Christian Mari, Michel Perron, (Philippe Soulet, Henri Szwarc)*
	2.	USA Fred Hamilton, Bob Hamman, Mike Passell, Ira Rubin, Paul Soloway, Bobby Wolff
	3.	Netherlands — Hans Kreijns, Anton Maas, André Mulder, Carol van Oppen, Hans Vergoed, René Zwaan
		Norway — Jon Aabye, Per Breck, Tor Helness, Reidar Lien, Harald Nordby, Leif-Erik Stabell
After 1980 it was determined that the Pairs and Teams Olympiads in alternating even years would continue to be played in Europe and North America.[9]
1984[10] Seattle, USA 54	1.	Poland Piotr Gawryś, Krzysztof Martens, Tomasz Przybora, Jacek Romański, Piotr Tuszyński, Henryk Wolny
	2.	France Paul Chemla, Félix Covo, Hervé Mouiel, Fivo Paladino, Michel Perron, Henri Szwarc
	3.	Denmark Jens Auken, Knud-Aage Boesgaard, Johannes Hulgaard, Peter Schaltz, Steen Schou, Stig Werdelin
1988[11] Venice, Italy 56	1.	USA Seymon Deutsch, Bob Hamman, Jim Jacoby, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bobby Wolff
	2.	Austria Heinrich Berger, Jan Fucik, Alfred Kadlec, Fritz Kubak, Wolfgang Meinl, Franz Terraneo
	3.	Sweden Björn Fallenius, Sven-Olov Flodqvist, Hans Göthe, Tommy Gullberg, Magnus Lindkvist, Per Olof Sundelin
1992[12] Salsomaggiore, Italy 57	1.	France Paul Chemla, Alain Lévy, Hervé Mouiel, Michel Perron, (Pierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu)*
	2.	USA Seymon Deutsch, Bob Hamman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Michael Rosenberg, Bobby Wolff
	3.	Netherlands Wubbo de Boer, Enri Leufkens, Bauke Muller, Berry Westra, (Jaap van der Neut, Marcel Nooijen)**
1996[13] Rhodes, Greece 71	1.	France Marc Bompis, Alain Lévy, Christian Mari, Hervé Mouiel, Franck Multon, Henri Szwarc
	2.	Indonesia Franky Karwur, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, (Santje Panelewen, Giovanni Watulingas)***
	3.	Denmark Morten Andersen, Jens Auken, Lars Blakset, Søren Christiansen, Dennis Koch-Palmund, Lauge Schäffer
2000[14] Maastricht, Netherlands 72 teams	1.	Italy Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace, (Dano De Falco, Guido Ferraro)*
	2.	Poland Cezary Balicki, Krzysztof Jassem, Michał Kwiecień, Jacek Pszczoła, Piotr Tuszyński, Adam Żmudziński
	3.	USA David Berkowitz, Larry N. Cohen, Steve Garner, George Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Howard Weinstein
2004[15] Istanbul, Turkey 72	1.	Italy Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Fulvio Fantoni, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Alfredo Versace
	2.	Netherlands Sjoert Brink, Bas Drijver, Jan Jansma, Ricco van Prooijen, Maarten Schollaardt, Louk Verhees
	3.	Russia Alexander Dubinin, Andrey Gromov, Jouri Khokhlov, Max Khven, Georgi Matushko, Vladimir Rekunov
After 2004 the Olympiad meet was discontinued by the World Bridge Federation in favor of participation in the World Mind Sports Games. This knockout tournament for Open national teams continues in the new context, with the same quadrennial cycle and conditions.
2008[16] Beijing, China 71 teams	1.	Italy Giorgio Duboin, Fulvio Fantoni, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Antonio Sementa, Alfredo Versace
	2.	England David Gold, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski, Nicklas Sandqvist, Tom Townsend
	3.	Norway Terje Aa, Glenn Grøtheim, Geir Helgemo, Tor Helness, Jørgen Molberg, Ulf Håkon Tundal
2012[17] Lille, France 60 teams	1.	Sweden Krister Ahlesved, Peter Bertheau, Per-Ola Cullin, Fredrik Nyström, Jonas Petersson, Johan Upmark
	2.	Poland Cezary Balicki, Krzysztof Buras, Grzegorz Narkiewicz, Piotr Żak, Jerzy Zaremba, Adam Żmudziński
	3.	Monaco Fulvio Fantoni, Geir Helgemo, Tor Helness, Franck Multon, Claudio Nunes, Pierre Zimmermann

* Soulet–Szwarc in 1980, Adad–Aujaleu in 1992, and De Falco–Ferraro in 2000 did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion

** Van der Neut and Nooijen in 1992 did not play enough boards to qualify for third place

*** Panelewen and Watulingas in 1996 did not play enough boards to qualify for second place

Women Teams

Teams representing eight different countries won the Olympiad series for Women during its twelve renditions, led by the United States with four. England won the first rendition as part of the World Mind Sports Games, beating host China by one IMP in 2008.

Year, Host, Entries		Medalists
1960[3] Turin, Italy 14 teams	1.	UAR Helen Camara, Aida Choucry, Samika Fathy, Loula Gordon, Josephine Morcos, Suzanne Naguib
	2.	France Nadine Alexandre, Annie Chanfray, — Gary, Geneviève Morénas, Esmerian Pouldjian, — Rouvière
	3.	Denmark Otti Damm, Annelise Faber, Rigmor Fraenckel, Lizzie Schaltz, Gulle Skotte
1964[4] New York City, USA 15	1.	Great Britain Dimmie Fleming, Fritzi Gordon, Jane Juan, Rixi Markus, Mary Moss, Dorothy Shanahan
	2.	USA Agnes Gordon, Muriel Kaplan, Alicia Kempner, Helen Portugal, Stella Rebner, Jan Stone
	3.	France Suzanne Baldon, Annie Chanfray, Marguerite de Gailhard, Geneviève Morénas, Marianne Serf
1968[5] Deauville, France 19	1.	Sweden Britt Blom, Karin Eriksson, Eva Mårtensson, Rut Segander, Gunborg Silborn, Britta Werner
	2.	South Africa Thelma Beron, Gerda Goslar, Rita Jacobson, Petra Mansell, Elfreda Sender, Alma Shnieder
	3.	USA Hermine Baron, Nancy Gruver, Emma Jean Hawes, Dorothy Hayden, Sue Sachs, Rhoda Walsh
1972[6] Miami Beach, USA 18	1.	Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Canessa, Rina Jabès, Maria Antonietta Robaudo, Anna Valenti, Maria Vittoria Venturini
	2.	South Africa Thelma Beron, Janie Disler, Gerda Goslar, Rita Jacobson, Petra Mansell, Alma Shnieder
	3.	USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Peggy Solomon, Dorothy Hayden Truscott
1976[7] Monte Carlo, Monaco 21	1.	Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Capodanno, Marisa D'Andrea, Rina Jabès, Maria Antonietta Robaudo, Anna Valenti
	2.	Great Britain Charley Esterson, Nicola Gardener, Fritzi Gordon, Sandra Landy, Rixi Markus, Rita Oldroyd
	3.	USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Dorothy Hayden Truscott
1980[8] Valkenburg, Netherlands 29 teams	1.	USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Dorothy Hayden Truscott
	2.	Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Capodanno, Marisa D'Andrea, Enrichetta Gut, Andreina Morini, Anna Valenti
	3.	Great Britain Nicola Gardener, Sandra Landy, Rita Oldroyd, Sally Sowter, (Michelle Brunner, Pat Davies)*
After 1980 it was determined that the Pairs and Teams Olympiads in alternating even years would continue to be played in Europe and North America.
1984[10] Seattle, USA 23	1.	USA Betty Ann Kennedy, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Judi Radin, Carol Sanders, Kathie Wei
	2.	Great Britain Pat Davies, Sally Horton, Sandra Landy, Nicola Smith, (Sarah Scarborough, Gillian Scott-Jones)**
	3.	Netherlands Marijke Erich, Petra Kaas, Laura Lor, Marijke van der Pas, Elly Schippers, Bep Vriend
1988[11] Venice, Italy 37	1.	Denmark Trine Dahl, Bettina Kalkerup, Judy Norris, Charlotte Palmund, Dorthe Schaltz, Kirsten Steen Møller
	2.	Great Britain Michelle Brunner, Pat Davies, Sandra Landy, Liz McGowan, Sandra Penfold, Nicola Smith
	3.	Bulgaria Nevena Deleva, Maria Garvalova, Albena Krasteva, Matilda Poplilov, (Margarita Halatcheva, Steliana Ivanova)*
1992[12] Salsomaggiore, Italy 34	1.	Austria Maria Erhart, Doris Fischer, Barbara Lindinger, Terry Weigkricht, (Herta Gyimesi, Jovanka Smederevac)***
	2.	Great Britain Pat Davies, Michele Handley, Sandra Landy, Liz McGowan, Sandra Penfold, Nicola Smith
	3.	France Danièle Avon, Véronique Bessis, Anne-Claude de l'Epine, Élisabeth Delor, Colette Lise, Sylvie Willard
1996[13] Rhodes, Greece 43	1.	USA Jill Blanchard, Juanita Chambers, Lynn Deas, Gail Greenberg, Irina Levitina, Shawn Quinn
	2.	China GU Ling, SUN Ming, WANG Hongli, WANG Wenfei, ZHANG Yalan, ZHANG Yu
	3.	Canada Francine Cimon, Dianna Gordon, Rhoda Habert, Beverly Kraft, Sharyn Reus, Barbara Saltsman
2000[14] Maastricht, Netherlands 41 teams	1.	USA Mildred Breed, Petra Hamman, Joan Jackson, Robin Klar, Shawn Quinn, Peggy Sutherlin
	2.	Canada Francine Cimon, Dianna Gordon, Rhoda Habert, Beverly Kraft, Martine Lacroix, Katie Thorpe
	3.	Germany Daniela von Arnim, Sabine Auken, Katrin Farwig, Pony Nehmert, Andrea Rauscheid, Barbara Stawowy
2004[15] Istanbul, Turkey 43	1.	Russia Olga Galaktionova, Victoria Gromova, Natalia Karpenko, Maria Lebedeva, Tatiana Ponomareva, Irina Vasilkova
	2.	USA Marinesa Letizia, Jill Meyers, Randi Montin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow, Carlyn Steiner
	3.	England Sally Brock, Michelle Brunner, Heather Dhondy, Rhona Goldenfield, Nicola Smith, Kitty Teltscher
After 2004 the Olympiad meet was discontinued by the World Bridge Federation in favor of participation in the World Mind Sports Games. This knockout tournament for Women national teams continues in the new context, with the same quadrennial cycle and conditions.
2008[16] Beijing, China 54 teams	1.	England Sally Brock, Heather Dhondy, Catherine Draper, Anne Rosen, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith
	2.	China Ling Gu, Yi Qian Liu, Ming Sun, Hongli Wang, Wenfei Wang, Yalan Zhang
	3.	USA Mildred Breed, Marinesa Letizia, Sylvia Moss, Judi Radin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow
2012[17] Lille, France 43 teams	1.	England Sally Brock, Fiona Brown, Heather Dhondy, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith, Susan Stockdale
	2.	Russia Svetlana Chubarova, Victoria Gromova, Anna Gulevich, Elena Khonicheva, Tatiana Ponomareva, Olga Vorobeychikova
	3.	Poland Cathy Bałdysz, Ewa Banaszkiewicz, Katarzyna Dufrat, Danuta Kazmucha, Natalia Sakowska, Justyna Żmuda

* Brunner–Davies in 1980 and Halatcheva–Ivanova in 1988 did not play enough boards in order to qualify for third place

** Scarborough and Scott-Jones in 1984 did not play enough boards in order to qualify for second place

*** Gyimesi and Smederevac in 1992 did not play enough boards in order to qualify for the title of World Champion

Senior International Cup

Teams representing the United States won both renditions of the Senior International Cup. From 2008 the World Bridge Federation continues the tournament in conjunction with the World Mind Sports Games although it is not a WMSG event.

Currently "a bridge a player belongs to the 'Seniors' category if he has at least his 60th birthday in the calendar year in question."[18] For the next rendition (2012) players born in 1952 or earlier will be eligible. (The threshold increased one year annually from 2005 to 2010.)

Year, Host, Entries		Medalists
2000[14] Maastricht, Netherlands 24 teams born 1944 or earlier	1.	USA John Mohan, Dan Morse, Steve Robinson, John Sutherlin, Bobby Wolff, Kit Woolsey
	2.	France Pierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu, Claude Delmouly, François Leenhardt, Christian Mari, Jean-Marc Roudinesco
	3.	Sweden Lars Alfredsson, Lars Backström, Sture Ekberg, Hans Göthe, Hans-Olof Hallén, Anders Morath
2004[15] Istanbul, Turkey 29 teams born 1949 or earlier	1.	USA Leo Bell, Neil Chambers, Marshall Miles, John Onstott, Jim Robison, John Schermer
	2.	Netherlands Willem Boegem, Nico Doremans, Onno Janssens, Jaap Trouwborst
	3.	Germany Hans Humburg, Reiner Marsal, Göran Mattsson, Werner Schneider, Dirk Schroeder, Horst-Dieter Uhlmann
After 2004 the Olympiad meet was discontinued by the World Bridge Federation in favor of participation in the World Mind Sports Games. This knockout tournament for Seniors national teams continues alongside the Games as a non-medal event.
2008[16] Beijing, China World Mind Sports Games   non-medal event 32 teams born 1950 or earlier	1.	Japan Hiroya Abe, Makoto Hirata, Masayuki Ino, Yoshiyuki Nakamura, Kyoko Ohno
	2.	USA Grant Baze, Billy Eisenberg, Russ Ekeblad, Matt Granovetter, Sam Lev, Reese Milner
	3.	Indonesia Michael Bambang Hartono, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin, Ferdinand Robert Waluyan
2012[17] Lille, France World Mind Sports Games   non-medal event 34 teams born 1952 or earlier	1.	Hungary Dumbovich Miklós, Kovács Mihály, Magyar Péter, Szappanos Géza, (Barany György)* (family names first)
	2.	United States Neil Chambers, Lew Finkel, Stephen Landen, Sam Lev, John Schermer, Richard Schwartz
	3.	France Patrick Grenthe, Guy Lasserre, François Leenhardt, Patrice Piganeau, Philippe Poizat, Philippe Vanhoutte

*Hungary captain Barany played the last segment of the first knockout match but the team otherwise used four players. In their preliminary group of 17 teams Dumbovich–Kovács and Magyar–Szappanos were two of only three pairs who played all 16 matches of the six-day round-robin (256 deals).[19]

World Mind Sports Games

After the 2004 Olympiad, the WBF and the world governing bodies for three other games—chess, draughts, and go—established the International Mind Sports Association and initiated its first priority, the quadrennial World Mind Sports Games (WMSG). The first WMSG were held in Beijing October 2008, about two months after the summer Olympic Games.

Thus a WBF initiative to integrate bridge with the Olympics was abandoned in favor of a long-term goal, advancing the WMSG as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the Summer and the Winter Olympics)".[20] The multi-event "World Team Olympiad" was discontinued in favor of participation in the WMSG but the constituent events of the Olympiad continue—Teams championships in Open and Women categories as part of the WMSG; in Seniors and Transnational categories as non-medal side events.[lower-alpha 1]

See also

• Bermuda Bowl
• Venice Cup
• Senior Bowl
• Bridge at the 2008 World Mind Sports Games
• Bridge at the 2012 World Mind Sports Games

Notes

1. Bridge at the WMSG officially comprised, among other events, the two "series which used to be part of the Olympiad (Open and Women national teams). ... The Seniors competition for national teams, held along the lines of the Olympiad Open and Women series, and the World Transnational Mixed Teams championship were also held in Beijing, although, officially, they were not part of the World Bridge Games"; that is, not WMSG medal events. World Bridge Games makes an impressive debut, 1st World Mind Sports Games contemporary coverage, 2008, World Bridge Federation. Page 1.

References

1. World Team Olympiad. World Bridge Federation. The tabular summary "World Team Olympiad to Date" is linked to dedicated websites for recent tournaments and to complete results and participants for all tournaments.
2. Registration – Participants: Open/Women/Seniors. WBF. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
3. Results & Participants, 1st World Team Olympiad, 1960. WBF.
4. Results & Participants, 2nd World Team Olympiad, 1964. WBF.
5. Results & Participants, 3rd World Team Olympiad, 1968. WBF.
6. Results & Participants, 4th World Team Olympiad, 1972. WBF.
7. Results & Participants, 5th World Team Olympiad, 1976. WBF.
8. Results & Participants, 6th World Team Olympiad, 1980. WBF.
9. ... OEB "Bermuda Bowl"? ... — (that continued thru the anniversary Bermuda Bowl of 2000?) ... —
10. Results & Participants, 7th World Team Olympiad, 1984. WBF.
11. Results & Participants, 8th World Team Olympiad, 1988. WBF.
12. Results & Participants, 9th World Team Olympiad, 1992. WBF.
13. Results & Participants, 10th World Team Olympiad, 1996. WBF.
14. Results & Participants, 11th World Team Olympiad, 2000. WBF.
15. Results & Participants, 12th World Team Olympiad, 2004. WBF.
16. Results & Participants (national teams), 1st World Mind Sports Games, 2008. WBF.
17. Results & Participants (national teams), 14th World Bridge Games, 2012. WBF. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
18. Senior Bridge program overview. WBF.
19. "Butler up to Round 17 - Seniors - Group I". 14th World Bridge Games, 2012. WBF. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
20. World Bridge Games. World Bridge Federation. Confirmed 2011-05-27.

External links

• World Team Olympiad at the World Bridge Federation
• World Bridge Games at the World Bridge Federation —Bridge at the World Mind Sports Games