Go for the win!
- POSTED ON: 19 Oct, 2020
- TOTAL VIEWS: 595 Views
- POSTED BY: Madhumitha Srinivasan
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
Sporting tournaments the world over are recognised and coveted for their trophies. In many cases, they are their raison d’être. Let’s take a look at the story of the origin of a few of the famous sports trophies.
The Ashes
It is the name of the Test cricket series played between England and Australia, as well as, its trophy. The name originated from a mock obituary published in a British newspaper after Australia’s victory at The Oval in 1882, its first win on English soil. The “obituary” read ‘The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia’. And before the next Test series, captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to “regain those ashes”.
The trophy is a large glass replica of a small terracotta perfume bottle, believed to contain the ashes of a bail, gifted to Bligh by the wife of Sir William Clarke, president of the Melbourne Cricket Club, thus becoming an emblem of this great sporting rivalry.
(Photo: AFP)
World Cup Trophy
The FIFA World Cup is a gold trophy awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. This is the second trophy to be used. The first was the Jules Rimet Trophy used from 1930 to 1970. Originally named Victory, the first trophy was renamed in honour of FIFA president Jules Rimet. The Brazilian team won the tournament for the third time in 1970, allowing them to keep the real trophy in perpetuity, as had been stipulated by Jules Rimet. Hence the present-day trophy was commissioned and has been in use since.
The World Cup trophy is made of 18-carat gold and depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The first trophy was stolen from the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro where it was kept on display and has never been found since.
(Photo: Flickr/CLF Golden Teamgeist & World Cup)
The Calcutta Cup
It is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland. The trophy originally was commissioned by the British expatriates living in India who had established the Calcutta Football (Rugby) Club in 1873. Hence its Indian design: an Indian elephant on the lid and king cobras as handles.
Each sporting tournament has a trophy that individuals or teams try to win. It’s the raison d’être for most competitions. Let’s look at a few famous trophies and the stories behind them.
The story goes that when the local British Army regiment departed and the club was disbanded, the 270 silver rupees remaining in its bank account were melted down, and crafted into a cup to be presented to the Rugby Football Union in the U.K. for ‘some lasting good for the cause of Rugby Football’.
King George V Gold Cup
Presented to the winner of the famous horse race of the same name in Ireland, the trophy was commissioned by King George V from Garrard & Co in 1911. It is worth an astounding £250,000 and hence it is locked in a vault in London. It even has a dedicated security guard guarding it when it is brought to the All England Jumping Course at Hickstead, West Sussex where the race takes place every year. That is the reason why when it was dropped on the ground by the winner in 2017, it attracted a collective gasp!
Here’s another interesting fact: During the Second World War, the trophy was in Italy with its Italian winner Conte Alessandro who buried it in the ground of his villa to protect it.