Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Date 8–11 April 1896
Edition 1st
Surface Red clay
Location Neo Phaliron Velodrome
Athens Lawn Tennis Club
Champions
Men's Singles
 John Boland (GBR)
Men's Doubles
 John Boland / Friedrich Traun (ZZX)

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, two tennis events were contested, both for men. They began on 8 April and continued on 9 April, 10 April, and 11 April.[1] 13 or 15 competitors from six nations, including seven Greeks, took part in the tennis competition. Many of the doubles teams were of mixed nationality, including all three medalist pairs. None of the leading players of the time such as Wimbledon champion Harold Mahony, U.S champion Robert Wrenn, William Larned or Wilfred Baddeley participated. To strengthen the field, the organization added sportsmen from other Olympic events, including weightlifter Momčilo Tapavica, hammer thrower George S. Robertson and 800-metres runners Edwin Flack and Friedrich Traun.[2]

Medal summary

Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics

These medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and runners-up bronze medals. Athletes coming third received no award.

Events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's singles
John Boland
 Great Britain
Dionysios Kasdaglis
 Greece
Konstantinos Paspatis
 Greece
Momčilo Tapavica
 Hungary
Men's doubles
 Mixed team (ZZX)
 John Boland (GBR)
 Friedrich Traun (GER)
 Mixed team (ZZX)
 Dionysios Kasdaglis (GRE)
 Demetrios Petrokokkinos (GRE)
 Mixed team (ZZX)
 Edwin Flack (AUS)
 George Robertson (GBR)

The doubles team of Kasdaglis and Petrokokkinos appears in the IOC results database as a mixed team. Kasdaglis is listed as Greek in the database for the singles event. Petrokokkinos, not having won a singles medal, is not identified with any nation in the IOC database; however, all sources which do give a nationality for Petrokokkinos give it as Greek. Kasdaglis, a Greek national residing in Alexandria after years in Great Britain, is listed as Egyptian or as British in some sources.

Medal table

Singles final in 1896 Olympic tennis
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Mixed team1113
2 Great Britain1001
3 Greece0112
4 Hungary0011
Totals (4 nations)2237

Competitors from Australia and Germany won medals only as a part of a mixed team in the doubles event.

Participating nations

A total of 15 tennis players from 6 nations competed at the Athens Games:


The International Society of Olympic Historians gives only thirteen players; according to them British players Frank and George Marshall did not participate.

Notes

  1. Dates given are in the Gregorian calendar. Greece still used the Julian calendar at the time. According to that calendar, the tennis competition began on 27 March and closed on 30 March.
  2. Gillmeister, Heiner (1998). Tennis : A Cultural History (Repr. ed.). London: Leicester University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0718501952.

References

  • International Olympic Committee results database
  • Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
  • Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
  • Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.
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