Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics
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]
| 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) | |
| Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Singles | men |
| Doubles | men |
Medal summary
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.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Greece |
Konstantinos Paspatis Greece |
Momčilo Tapavica.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Hungary | |||
| Men's doubles |
Mixed team (ZZX) John Boland (GBR).svg.png.webp){kind=small} Friedrich Traun (GER) |
Dionysios Kasdaglis and 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
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mixed team | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Greece | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Hungary | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 nations) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
Competitors from Australia and Germany won medals only as a part of a mixed team in the doubles event.
Participating nations
A total of 13 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. Other sources include the Marshalls to reach 15 players.
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
