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Latest update:
17/08/2008 15:22 +0300
Tennis:
ATHLETICS |
BASKETBALL |
BEACH
VOLLEYBALL|
GYMNASTICS |
JUDO |
MOUNTAIN BIKE
SAILING |
SHOOTING |
SWIMMING |
TABLE TENNIS
| TENNIS |
VOLLEYBALL
 When Irishman John Boland
travelled to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in
1896, he had no idea he would return home with the gold
medal in tennis. But then, he had no idea he would compete
either - he went as a spectator.
Times have changed
dramatically for Olympic tennis since then. Today's Olympic
tennis players include some of the highest-profile athletes
in the world. Accustomed to five-star hotels and high-stakes
prize money, at the Olympic Games they will bunk in the
Olympic Village and compete for nothing but a gold medal.
Tennis was dropped from the
Olympic programme after 1924 amid turmoil over such issues
as where to draw the line between amateurism and
professionalism, and it didn't return as a medal sport until
1988. Today, Olympic competition includes men's and women's
singles and men's and women's doubles.
As with most tournaments,
Olympic tennis is a knockout competition - one loss and
you're out. All matches except the finals are played to the
best of three sets except the men's singles and doubles
finals, which are played to the best of five. In all four
divisions, the semi-finals winners play to decide the gold
and silver medals, and the semi-finals losers play for the
bronze.
Athletics |
Basketball |
Beach Volleyball
| Gymnastics |
Judo |
Mountain Bike |
Sailing |
Shooting |
Swimming |
Table Tennis
| Tennis |
Volleyball |
