Olympic Games

Tennis at the Olympics

Tennis was played at the Olympics until 1924, then reinstituted in 1988.
John Boland of Ireland won the first gold medal awarded in Olympic tennis, and he also won a second gold that same year for doubles.
The first woman to win an Olympic event was England's Charlotte “Chattie” Cooper, who won the tennis singles at the 1900 games.
In 1912, the Olympics and Wimbledon were held at the same time, and all of the best players chose to compete at Wimbledon.

After the 1924 games, Tennis and the Olympics had a messy break up. The Olympic Committee and the various tennis federations could not agree on how to settle the question of whether professional players should be allowed to compete.
Tennis was a demonstration sport in Mexico City in 1968, however the crowds and interest in the competition were small. Tennis was also played at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics as a demonstration sport - the first time professional athletes were officially allowed to compete in any Olympic sport. This time fans bought out every seat at the tennis venue.

In 1988, tennis returned officially after a 64-year absence, and Steffi Graf won the women's gold and Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia the men's competition.