# 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, 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 eight 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.

## 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 Turin, Italy 29 teams | 1. | France René Bacherich, Gérard Bourchtoff, Claude Delmouly, Pierre Ghestem, Pierre Jaïs, Roger Trézel |
| 1960 Turin, Italy 29 teams | 2. | Great Britain Jeremy Flint, Nico Gardener, Terence Reese, Albert Rose, Boris Schapiro, Ralph Swimer |
| 1960 Turin, Italy 29 teams | 3. | USA Vanderbilt 1 B. Jay Becker, John Crawford, Norman Kay, George Rapée, Sidney Silodor, Tobias Stone |
| 1964 New York City, USA 29 | 1. | Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci |
| 1964 New York City, USA 29 | 2. | USA Bob Hamman, Robert F. Jordan, Don Krauss, Victor Mitchell, Arthur Robinson, Sam Stayman |
| 1964 New York City, USA 29 | 3. | Great Britain Jeremy Flint, Maurice Harrison-Gray, Kenneth Konstam, Terence Reese, Boris Schapiro, Joel Tarlo |
| 1968 Deauville, France 33 | 1. | Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci |
| 1968 Deauville, France 33 | 2. | USA Robert F. Jordan, Edgar Kaplan, Norman Kay, Arthur Robinson, Bill Root, Al Roth |
| 1968 Deauville, France 33 | 3. | Canada Gerry Charney, Bill Crissey, C. Bruce Elliott, Sami Kehela, Eric Murray, Percy Sheardown |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 39 | 1. | Italy Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Massimo D'Alelio, Pietro Forquet, Benito Garozzo, Camillo Pabis Ticci |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 39 | 2. | USA Bobby Goldman, Bob Hamman, Jim Jacoby, Mike Lawrence, Paul Soloway, Bobby Wolff |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 39 | 3. | Canada Gerry Charney, Bill Crissey, Bruce Gowdy, Sami Kehela, Eric Murray, Duncan Phillips |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 45 | 1. | Brazil Pedro Paulo Assumpção, Sérgio Barbosa, Marcelo Branco, Gabriel Chagas, Gabino Cintra, Christiano Fonseca |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 45 | 2. | Italy Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet, Arturo Franco, Benito Garozzo, Carlo Mosca, Silvio Sbarigia |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 45 | 3. | Great Britain Willie Coyle, Jeremy Flint, Tony Priday, Claude Rodrigue, Irving Rose, Robert Sheehan |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 58 teams | 1. | France Paul Chemla, Michel Lebel, Christian Mari, Michel Perron, (Philippe Soulet, Henri Szwarc)* |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 58 teams | 2. | USA Fred Hamilton, Bob Hamman, Mike Passell, Ira Rubin, Paul Soloway, Bobby Wolff |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 58 teams | 3. | Netherlands — Hans Kreijns, Anton Maas, André Mulder, Carol van Oppen, Hans Vergoed, René Zwaan |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 58 teams | 3. | 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. |||
| 1984 Seattle, USA 54 | 1. | Poland Piotr Gawryś, Krzysztof Martens, Tomasz Przybora, Jacek Romański, Piotr Tuszyński, Henryk Wolny |
| 1984 Seattle, USA 54 | 2. | France Paul Chemla, Félix Covo, Hervé Mouiel, Fivo Paladino, Michel Perron, Henri Szwarc |
| 1984 Seattle, USA 54 | 3. | Denmark Jens Auken, Knud-Aage Boesgaard, Johannes Hulgaard, Peter Schaltz, Steen Schou, Stig Werdelin |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 56 | 1. | USA Seymon Deutsch, Bob Hamman, Jim Jacoby, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bobby Wolff |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 56 | 2. | Austria Heinrich Berger, Jan Fucik, Alfred Kadlec, Fritz Kubak, Wolfgang Meinl, Franz Terraneo |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 56 | 3. | Sweden Björn Fallenius, Sven-Olov Flodqvist, Hans Göthe, Tommy Gullberg, Magnus Lindkvist, Per Olof Sundelin |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 57 | 1. | France Paul Chemla, Alain Lévy, Hervé Mouiel, Michel Perron, (Pierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu)* |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 57 | 2. | USA Seymon Deutsch, Bob Hamman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Michael Rosenberg, Bobby Wolff |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 57 | 3. | Netherlands Wubbo de Boer, Enri Leufkens, Bauke Muller, Berry Westra, (Jaap van der Neut, Marcel Nooijen)** |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 71 | 1. | France Marc Bompis, Alain Lévy, Christian Mari, Hervé Mouiel, Franck Multon, Henri Szwarc |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 71 | 2. | Indonesia Franky Karwur, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, (Santje Panelewen, Giovanni Watulingas)*** |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 71 | 3. | Denmark Morten Andersen, Jens Auken, Lars Blakset, Søren Christiansen, Dennis Koch-Palmund, Lauge Schäffer |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 72 teams | 1. | Italy Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace, (Dano De Falco, Guido Ferraro)* |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 72 teams | 2. | Poland Cezary Balicki, Krzysztof Jassem, Michał Kwiecień, Jacek Pszczoła, Piotr Tuszyński, Adam Żmudziński |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 72 teams | 3. | USA David Berkowitz, Larry N. Cohen, Steve Garner, George Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Howard Weinstein |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 72 | 1. | Italy Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin, Fulvio Fantoni, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Alfredo Versace |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 72 | 2. | Netherlands Sjoert Brink, Bas Drijver, Jan Jansma, Ricco van Prooijen, Maarten Schollaardt, Louk Verhees |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 72 | 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 Beijing, China 71 teams | 1. | Italy Giorgio Duboin, Fulvio Fantoni, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Antonio Sementa, Alfredo Versace |
| 2008 Beijing, China 71 teams | 2. | England David Gold, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski, Nicklas Sandqvist, Tom Townsend |
| 2008 Beijing, China 71 teams | 3. | Norway Terje Aa, Glenn Grøtheim, Geir Helgemo, Tor Helness, Jørgen Molberg, Ulf Håkon Tundal |
| 2012 Lille, France 60 teams | 1. | Sweden Krister Ahlesved, Peter Bertheau, Per-Ola Cullin, Fredrik Nyström, Jonas Petersson, Johan Upmark |
| 2012 Lille, France 60 teams | 2. | Poland Cezary Balicki, Krzysztof Buras, Grzegorz Narkiewicz, Piotr Żak, Jerzy Zaremba, Adam Żmudziński |
| 2012 Lille, France 60 teams | 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's 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 Turin, Italy 14 teams | 1. | UAR Helen Camara, Aida Choucry, Samika Fathy, Loula Gordon, Josephine Morcos, Suzanne Naguib |
| 1960 Turin, Italy 14 teams | 2. | France Nadine Alexandre, Annie Chanfray, — Gary, Geneviève Morénas, Esmerian Pouldjian, — Rouvière |
| 1960 Turin, Italy 14 teams | 3. | Denmark Otti Damm, Annelise Faber, Rigmor Fraenckel, Lizzie Schaltz, Gulle Skotte |
| 1964 New York City, USA 15 | 1. | Great Britain Dimmie Fleming, Fritzi Gordon, Jane Juan, Rixi Markus, Mary Moss, Dorothy Shanahan |
| 1964 New York City, USA 15 | 2. | USA Agnes Gordon, Muriel Kaplan, Alicia Kempner, Helen Portugal, Stella Rebner, Jan Stone |
| 1964 New York City, USA 15 | 3. | France Suzanne Baldon, Annie Chanfray, Marguerite de Gailhard, Geneviève Morénas, Marianne Serf |
| 1968 Deauville, France 19 | 1. | Sweden Britt Blom, Karin Eriksson, Eva Mårtensson, Rut Segander, Gunborg Silborn, Britta Werner |
| 1968 Deauville, France 19 | 2. | South Africa Thelma Beron, Gerda Goslar, Rita Jacobson, Petra Mansell, Elfreda Sender, Alma Shnieder |
| 1968 Deauville, France 19 | 3. | USA Hermine Baron, Nancy Gruver, Emma Jean Hawes, Dorothy Hayden, Sue Sachs, Rhoda Walsh |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 18 | 1. | Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Canessa, Rina Jabès, Maria Antonietta Robaudo, Anna Valenti, Maria Vittoria Venturini |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 18 | 2. | South Africa Thelma Beron, Janie Disler, Gerda Goslar, Rita Jacobson, Petra Mansell, Alma Shnieder |
| 1972 Miami Beach, USA 18 | 3. | USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Peggy Solomon, Dorothy Hayden Truscott |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 21 | 1. | Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Capodanno, Marisa D'Andrea, Rina Jabès, Maria Antonietta Robaudo, Anna Valenti |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 21 | 2. | Great Britain Charley Esterson, Nicola Gardener, Fritzi Gordon, Sandra Landy, Rixi Markus, Rita Oldroyd |
| 1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco 21 | 3. | USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Dorothy Hayden Truscott |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 29 teams | 1. | USA Mary Jane Farell, Emma Jean Hawes, Marilyn Johnson, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Dorothy Hayden Truscott |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 29 teams | 2. | Italy Marisa Bianchi, Luciana Capodanno, Marisa D'Andrea, Enrichetta Gut, Andreina Morini, Anna Valenti |
| 1980 Valkenburg, Netherlands 29 teams | 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 Seattle, USA 23 | 1. | USA Betty Ann Kennedy, Jacqui Mitchell, Gail Moss, Judi Radin, Carol Sanders, Kathie Wei |
| 1984 Seattle, USA 23 | 2. | Great Britain Pat Davies, Sally Horton, Sandra Landy, Nicola Smith, (Sarah Scarborough, Gillian Scott-Jones)** |
| 1984 Seattle, USA 23 | 3. | Netherlands Marijke Erich, Petra Kaas, Laura Lor, Marijke van der Pas, Elly Schippers, Bep Vriend |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 37 | 1. | Denmark Trine Dahl, Bettina Kalkerup, Judy Norris, Charlotte Palmund, Dorthe Schaltz, Kirsten Steen Møller |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 37 | 2. | Great Britain Michelle Brunner, Pat Davies, Sandra Landy, Liz McGowan, Sandra Penfold, Nicola Smith |
| 1988 Venice, Italy 37 | 3. | Bulgaria Nevena Deleva, Maria Garvalova, Albena Krasteva, Matilda Poplilov, (Margarita Halatcheva, Steliana Ivanova)* |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 34 | 1. | Austria Maria Erhart, Doris Fischer, Barbara Lindinger, Terry Weigkricht, (Herta Gyimesi, Jovanka Smederevac)*** |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 34 | 2. | Great Britain Pat Davies, Michele Handley, Sandra Landy, Liz McGowan, Sandra Penfold, Nicola Smith |
| 1992 Salsomaggiore, Italy 34 | 3. | France Danièle Avon, Véronique Bessis, Anne-Claude de l'Epine, Élisabeth Delor, Colette Lise, Sylvie Willard |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 43 | 1. | USA Jill Blanchard, Juanita Chambers, Lynn Deas, Gail Greenberg, Irina Levitina, Shawn Quinn |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 43 | 2. | China GU Ling, SUN Ming, WANG Hongli, WANG Wenfei, ZHANG Yalan, ZHANG Yu |
| 1996 Rhodes, Greece 43 | 3. | Canada Francine Cimon, Dianna Gordon, Rhoda Habert, Beverly Kraft, Sharyn Reus, Barbara Saltsman |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 41 teams | 1. | USA Mildred Breed, Petra Hamman, Joan Jackson, Robin Klar, Shawn Quinn, Peggy Sutherlin |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 41 teams | 2. | Canada Francine Cimon, Dianna Gordon, Rhoda Habert, Beverly Kraft, Martine Lacroix, Katie Thorpe |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 41 teams | 3. | Germany Daniela von Arnim, Sabine Auken, Katrin Farwig, Pony Nehmert, Andrea Rauscheid, Barbara Stawowy |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 43 | 1. | Russia Olga Galaktionova, Victoria Gromova, Natalia Karpenko, Maria Lebedeva, Tatiana Ponomareva, Irina Vasilkova |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 43 | 2. | USA Marinesa Letizia, Jill Meyers, Randi Montin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow, Carlyn Steiner |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 43 | 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 Beijing, China 54 teams | 1. | England Sally Brock, Heather Dhondy, Catherine Draper, Anne Rosen, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith |
| 2008 Beijing, China 54 teams | 2. | China Ling Gu, Yi Qian Liu, Ming Sun, Hongli Wang, Wenfei Wang, Yalan Zhang |
| 2008 Beijing, China 54 teams | 3. | USA Mildred Breed, Marinesa Letizia, Sylvia Moss, Judi Radin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow |
| 2012 Lille, France 43 teams | 1. | England Sally Brock, Fiona Brown, Heather Dhondy, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith, Susan Stockdale |
| 2012 Lille, France 43 teams | 2. | Russia Svetlana Chubarova, Victoria Gromova, Anna Gulevich, Elena Khonicheva, Tatiana Ponomareva, Olga Vorobeychikova |
| 2012 Lille, France 43 teams | 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." 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 Maastricht, Netherlands 24 teams born 1944 or earlier | 1. | USA John Mohan, Dan Morse, Steve Robinson, John Sutherlin, Bobby Wolff, Kit Woolsey |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 24 teams born 1944 or earlier | 2. | France Pierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu, Claude Delmouly, François Leenhardt, Christian Mari, Jean-Marc Roudinesco |
| 2000 Maastricht, Netherlands 24 teams born 1944 or earlier | 3. | Sweden Lars Alfredsson, Lars Backström, Sture Ekberg, Hans Göthe, Hans-Olof Hallén, Anders Morath |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 29 teams born 1949 or earlier | 1. | USA Leo Bell, Neil Chambers, Marshall Miles, John Onstott, Jim Robison, John Schermer |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 29 teams born 1949 or earlier | 2. | Netherlands Willem Boegem, Nico Doremans, Onno Janssens, Jaap Trouwborst |
| 2004 Istanbul, Turkey 29 teams born 1949 or earlier | 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 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 |
| 2008 Beijing, China World Mind Sports Games  non-medal event 32 teams born 1950 or earlier | 2. | USA Grant Baze, Billy Eisenberg, Russ Ekeblad, Matt Granovetter, Sam Lev, Reese Milner |
| 2008 Beijing, China World Mind Sports Games  non-medal event 32 teams born 1950 or earlier | 3. | Indonesia Michael Bambang Hartono, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin, Ferdinand Robert Waluyan |
| 2012 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) |
| 2012 Lille, France World Mind Sports Games  non-medal event 34 teams born 1952 or earlier | 2. | United States Neil Chambers, Lew Finkel, Stephen Landen, Sam Lev, John Schermer, Richard Schwartz |
| 2012 Lille, France World Mind Sports Games  non-medal event 34 teams born 1952 or earlier | 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).

## 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)". 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.