Manuel DE ESCANDON

Like his younger brother Eustaquio, Manuel Escandón was a 5-handicap player and was in the same French Bagatelle Club team that became the first home team to win the Paris Cup in 1898. Two years later he was back playing on home soil at the Bagatelle Club with Eustaquio, another brother Pablo and the American William Wright, at the Olympic Games. They played just one game, losing 8-0 to the BLO Polo Club, but are still considered bronze medalists. The three Escandón brothers were the first Mexicans to win an Olympic medal. Manuel played in England and Belgian for the Madrid representative team on their annual tour from 1907 to 1913. Eustaquio also played and they were on the team that lifted the Ostend Cup in 1907. Manuel Escandón founded the Cercle de Polo de Paris and he had many business interests in France and Spain. He was also the joint owner, with his brother Pablo, of the El Chateau Coubert on the outskirts of Paris. They converted the vast area of land into popular polo and hunting grounds. Married to Petronila de Salamanca he became the Marquis of Villavieja in 1894 when his wife inherited the title.