Is an olympic gold medal more prestigious than wtf?

zam88 said:
I'm not even sure the average person even knows about the Australian Open.


so by that logic the Olympic Gold might have more prestige than even one of the grand slam's... and that could be true!
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You are probably right, the OG is probably more recognized than RG also.
 
On a tennis forum a question, regarding prestige, should be discussed in the context of which is harder to achieve, not what the masses think, IMO.

The opinion of the masses is influenced by the entertainment value of the product tennis or other subjective emotional expectations, which is largely a product of advertising. In the recent decades the OG have turned in one huge money generating machine, with the respective advertising, pushing forward the sports, that are most popular amongst the masses (not surprisingly, tennis amongst them).

If we are to measure the importance of the events purely by their entertainment value by the layman standarts, we would be talking about OG being bigger than the Majors (something, that is already happening in this thread), which is, IMO, absolutely ridiculous.
 
Totai said:
Whats better, winning the Champion's league, or getting the olympic gold in soccer?

No one cares about the olympics.
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Tennis wasn't even an Olympic sport between 1924 and 1988. There's no history there at all. The only reason players want to play the Olympics is to get national glory. It's a patriotic thing, that's all. Same with Davis Cup. It's a team event. Has no bearing on how successful a player is. It's just a nice parade in one's home when they return victorious.
 
Fedex said:
The question of the thread is - is one Olympic Gold greater than one WTF?



?
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They're both special/unique: Olympics because one represents their country and that seems to be more emotional for most players (Nadal, Murray, Djoko and other medalists have all said as much), WTF because finishing the year in top 10 is an achievement in itself and WTF is rewarding that.
The main difference is that WTF is a regular event (yearly, like all other events in tennis) whereas Olympics only happen every 4 years and also changes venue/surface every 4 years, so not that easy for comparing records. 4 years is a long time in tennis. Since no man even has 2 Olympic medals in singles (as far as I know), there's not much to get excited about in terms of players' history at this event at this point.
I would say the most prestigious is to win both. One doesn't exclude the other. Kudos to Agassi for being the only player pulling it off on top of the 4 slams. That's his main achievement imo.
Other than that, it's prestigious to win either one and I can't imagine ANY player spitting on either.
I have my reservations about both events though. WTF: round robin awkward for tennis, don't like it, don't like that one can lose a match and still win the event. Olympics: don't like that bronze medal business. That podium thing fits the format of sports like swimming or gymnastics, but tennis? There's a winner and a finalist. Playing an extra match to give a medal to one of the semis losers doesn't sound quite right: awkward and unnatural to say the least. In tennis, imo, whoever loses a match should be eliminated period. As for the exhibition factor, I also think they both have it. Did you know that tennis was actually played twice in the Olympics as an exhibition sport? Maybe both events should have that status in the end, why not? (All prestige/glory, no points). In terms of difficulty, I would venture WTF is harder, first because one has to QUALIFY for that event and in order to do so one has to play well year round (not just at select events) and second because all opponents are top players. The only thing that makes the Olympics harder is its rarity (only 1 chance every 4 years) but that doesn't pertain to player's effort. And if a player happens to be injured at that exact time, then, tough luck but that has no relation to either skill or talent.
 
I think I suggested this in my other post - "prestige" is not necessarily equivalent to the substance of the accomplishment (not to say the the Olympics isn't a remarkable accomplishment). I don't think there's much doubt that the Olympics is more "prestigious". But, that doesn't mean that when you really look at it, that it's a more substantive tennis accomplishment than the WTF.

It's sort of like job titles - someone can have a "prestigious" job title, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're doing more interesting, more challenging, or better work than someone without the prestigious title.
 
For me personally, the WTF is a lot more meaningful than Olympic gold. Olympics only happen every 4 years and Tennis being in the Olympic is still kind of new. In the WTF, you first need to have a pretty good season to qualify (top 8 ) and then you got to beat the top 8 to win, to me that's a way more exclusive club than the Olympics. The ATP grants less points for the Olympics than even a MS1000, so I don't think they see it as very important either. To me the WTF being worth 1500 points, just 500 less than a slam shows how important that event is, and since you only play the top 8 makes it even more interesting.

I know the only thing Federer is missing is olympic gold in single competition, but to me, winning an extra slam is even more meaningful, so I never understood the fixation on that.
 
...........

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Only because it is different, if they were amateurs who only played Olympics, they would be envying a Slam.

You should be asking someone who has never won a slam what they would prefer.
 
TMF said:
Sampras once said his 6 straight year ending #1 is his biggest accomplisment. Of course, that was after Fed broke his 14 slams record.
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Poor chap has neither the consecutive weeks at #1 record nor the total weeks at #1 record. Let him be happy with being no.1 on dec 31 6 times in a row :twisted:
 
veroniquem said:
I said points AND prestige. Both. It's not just the amount of points, it's the fact Olympics is tallied as a 500, not a 1000. Also currently I don't see any rational argument to claim that all 1000 are not equal (same for slams). It's not because Shanghai is newer that it's worth less for instance. Finally, ATP and ITF DO represent the players and establish the hierarchy in terms of events, rankings and organization in general in the form of rules, incentives, penalties and rewards. So they do determine what's important or what's not. Not individual players.
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WOW:shock:

Okay, to the OP, no. Players who've won Olympic medals obviously love it. Players like Federer want it probably because they know their respective DC teams have no chance, etc. I'm sure Olympics is special but there's a reason WTF is awarded as many points as it is. It is among the toughest tournaments to win even with a couple of injured players thrown in. There are no easy draws, it's a unique format etc. The other reason is that I'm not VERY patriotic (hard to be "patriotic" about a country like India) so I guess I just don't give a damn about the Olympics. But that is of course entirely personal.
 
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mandy01 said:
WOW:shock:

Okay, to the OP, no. Players who've won Olympic medals obviously love it. Players like Federer want it probably because they know their respective DC teams have no chance, etc. I'm sure Olympics is special but there's a reason WTF is awarded as many points as it is. It is among the toughest tournaments to win even with a couple of injured players thrown in. There are no easy draws, it's a unique format etc. The other reason is that I'm not VERY patriotic (hard to be "patriotic" about a country like India) so I guess I just don't give a damn about the Olympics. But that is of course entirely personal.
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:confused:
 
mandy01 said:
Okay, to the OP, no. Players who've won Olympic medals obviously love it. Players like Federer want it probably because they know their respective DC teams have no chance, etc. .
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And Fed has Olympic medals anyway. One could argue he has more Olympic medals than Nadal (2 vs 1 even though the second one was in doubles). Which is why as a Nadal fan, I don't think the Olympics is a good angle vs Fed, head to head is much better ;) It would only become a clear edge if Nadal won a second Olympic medal in singles (something no one has ever done) or if he won WTF as well (something only Agassi did and no one else in Nadal's era).
All I can say is that the gold medal will be crucial on Rafa's resume if he ends up never winning WTF. For someone like Fed who has the record at WTF and a couple olympic medals already, I don't even know why he would care. Not that he should spit on it either but I don't think it's as essential for him, considering his other records.
 
veroniquem said:
And Fed has Olympic medals anyway. One could argue he has more Olympic medals than Nadal (2 vs 1 even though the second one was in doubles). Which is why as a Nadal fan, I don't think the Olympics is a good angle vs Fed, head to head is much better ;) It would only become a clear edge if Nadal won a second Olympic medal in singles (something no one has ever done) or if he won WTF as well (something only Agassi did and no one else in Nadal's era).
All I can say is that the gold medal will be crucial on Rafa's resume if he ends up never winning WTF. For someone like Fed who has the record at WTF and a couple olympic medals already, I don't even know why he would care. Not that he should spit on it either but I don't think it's as essential for him, considering his other records.
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Nadal can (and probably will) win the WTF, if he is a little bit lucky.

Federer is ageing and is no more a lock for the title. The last year showed that.

Nadal needs one of Murray or Djokovic to be in bad form, when they go to the WTF. As the things are, he can pull a single win against either of them in good form. He just need to not have a difficult SF (or he needs to face the in form player in the SF and hope for a weaker opponent in the final).
 
Tennis_Hands said:
Nadal can (and probably will) win the WTF, if he is a little bit lucky.



).
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I hope so really, really bad. Some Nadal fans even wish he would skip the event. I'm in the camp of those who desperately want that win for him. If somebody told me Rafa will win only 1 more event in his career, I would pick WTF. I want him to match Agassi and be the only player in his era doing it: the 4 slams + WTF+ Olympic gold + DC but what he would have on top is: absolute record in masters, more slam titles and even more weeks at #1. That would be every kind of awesome on top of him being the uncontested clay GOAT, most dominant player ever on 1 surface. OK, if I could pick 2 (titles), I would pick one more RG for him to also be the player with most titles at 1 slam.
Everyone has a dream and that's mine (for his sake). Move the WTF to clay, damn it! :)
 
veroniquem said:
And Fed has Olympic medals anyway. One could argue he has more Olympic medals than Nadal (2 vs 1 even though the second one was in doubles). Which is why as a Nadal fan, I don't think the Olympics is a good angle vs Fed, head to head is much better ;) It would only become a clear edge if Nadal won a second Olympic medal in singles (something no one has ever done) or if he won WTF as well (something only Agassi did and no one else in Nadal's era).
All I can say is that the gold medal will be crucial on Rafa's resume if he ends up never winning WTF. For someone like Fed who has the record at WTF and a couple olympic medals already, I don't even know why he would care. Not that he should spit on it either but I don't think it's as essential for him, considering his other records.
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LMAO, okay. :)
 
Sorana fan said:
So...let's see what the players think:

NADAL
Nadal: Olympics bigger than Grand Slams
"The Olympic Games is very special for many reasons and in my opinion the biggest one because you are representing your country"
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/nadal-olympics-bigger-grand-slams-125157478.html

DJOKOVIC:
Djokovic: "Winning gold brings immortality"
Interviewer: You look like you are loving the whole Olympic experience?
Djokovic: “I am and I have seen the majority of the athletes and they cannot remove the smile from their faces. It is an excitement that is like no other. It is the most recognisable event in the history of sport. In the past, when you won the Olympic Games you were considered immortal and you got eternal glory – I don’t think it has changed much really because that is how much it means to the world of sport and to the athletes“
http://www.thetennisspace.com/djokovic-exclusive-winning-gold-brings-immortality/

FEDERER
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be playing at Wimbledon at the Olympic Games. It's just a really big deal for us to be living that Olympic spirit, right there, at the most incredible arena we have in tennis.
"It's a big goal for me, there's no doubt about it. This is my fourth time. I don't think there's another player in singles who has played four in this era so I am very happy that I'm able to do this.
"I'm just super excited and can't wait until it comes around."
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1251827-roger-federer-what-does-olympic-gold-mean-for-r-fed

MURRAY (months before winning medal)
"I would say that winning an Olympic gold is bigger than winning a Grand Slam," Murray said, when asked what the lasting impact would be of winning either. "Everybody knows what an Olympic gold is. Everybody on the street knows about that anywhere you go. I think most people know what a Grand Slam is, but I don't think everybody does. The Olympics is bigger than tennis, bigger than the Slams for sure. It's a huge, huge competition, the biggest sporting competition in the world."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/s...lympic-gold-bigger-than-a-major-28736461.html

AGASSI
Andre Agassi: Olympic tennis gold matters more than any Grand Slam.
For Andre Agassi, if he could have only "one trophy in the trophy case, between all the Grand Slams and the [Olympic] gold medal", he says that he would "lean towards winning the gold medal."
Andre Agassi won the Atlanta 1996 Olympics tennis gold medal, and he says that it was so special because "it represents so much more than just tennis."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ol...is-gold-matters-more-than-any-Grand-Slam.html
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All these quotes are about winning a gold medal, not a singles gold medal. A lot of clowns on here with low levels on intelligence making fools of themselves.
 
FedererWinsWimbledon2014 said:
All these quotes are about winning a gold medal, not a singles gold medal. A lot of clowns on here with low levels on intelligence making fools of themselves.
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To Rafa's fans, it is. Reason? Simple really. Single gold medal at OG: Rafa won it. WTF title: none so far. Hey, hard to argue for something when you don't have it, right?
However, be prepared to read from the same posters after Rafa wins WTF that now suddenly "WTF is very prestigious and lookathere, Rafa also won it. So Rafa should be considered as this, Rafa should be that, bla bla bla"
 
VPhuc tennis fan said:
To Rafa's fans, it is. Reason? Simple really. Single gold medal at OG: Rafa won it. WTF title: none so far. Hey, hard to argue for something when you don't have it, right?
However, be prepared to read from the same posters after Rafa wins WTF that now suddenly "WTF is very prestigious and lookathere, Rafa also won it. So Rafa should be considered as this, Rafa should be that, bla bla bla"
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Yeah, there will be the no holes in his cv... They selectively ignore Federer's achievements.

If he wins the Australian Open, they will go on about winning every slam twice. Which is deeply flawed argument but they won't have the intelligence to see this.
 
Gold = 750 points
WTF = 1500 points
Slams = 2000 points

Those are facts.

Doesn't Tier 1 goat Nicolas Massu have a gold in both singles and doubles? He is the greatest ever I guess.
 
I definitely think when we look back 20-30 years from now, those guys who have the singles gold will have a feather in the cap of their careers.
 
Yes and No

It has both answers depending on the context.

To the general non-tennis going public who are countrymen of a particular player - yes it is, because people want their countrymen to win gold medals for their country. Consequently players want to win gold for their country. Hence, winning doubles is just as prestigious as winning singles because - you still get a gold medal for your country.

On the other hand, in tennis terms the WTF is more prestigious. Because it is harder to win, with harder competition, has had a long prestigious history over the last 43 years (if you look at newspaper articles about it since the early 70's this is undeniable) and quite simply is worth more points (though this is the least of the factors).

The Olympics has only been a 'special event' for tennis over the last 2 Olympics. Therefore there has only been 2 of them vs 43 years of the WTF.
 
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timnz said:
It has both answers depending on the context.

To the general non-tennis going public who are countrymen of a particular player - yes it is, because people want their countrymen to win gold medals for their country. Consequently players want to win gold for their country. Hence, winning doubles is just as prestigious as winning singles because - you still get a gold medal for your country.

On the other hand, in tennis terms the WTF is more prestigious. Because it is harder to win, with harder competition, has had a long prestigious history over the last 43 years (if you look at newspaper articles about it since the early 70's this is undeniable) and quite simply is worth more points (though this is the least of the factors).

The Olympics has only been a 'special event' for tennis over the last 2 Olympics. Therefore there has only been 2 of them vs 43 years of the WTF.
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Could not have been said any better. Kudos!
 
Actually it is the opposite

Graf1stClass said:
no, the olympics is more important because of how elusive it is.

wtf can be gotten every year.
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I come to the opposite conclusion from the same reasons you give above.

Because the Olympics is every 4 years then a player has to be lucky to happen to be in peak form when the time comes around to play it. They may only get around 2 or maybe 3 attempts to play it in their career during the peak part of their career. Hence, if a player doesn't have gold, then they have a much better excuse for not having that prize than someone who doesn't have the WTF. After all, the WTF opportunity comes along every year, as long as you finish the year in the top 8. Hence, if you don't have the WTF - the excuses are much less since you have so many more opportunities to win it!
 
Despite the fact that olympic gold is pretty worthless in tennis, I'm sure Federer would still trade 1 WTF for an olympic gold. ;)
 
Unfortunately, I do not believe Gold is more prestigious than a WTF title. Olympic tennis was added in '88 and not taken seriously until the mid 90s. Roughly twenty years of Olympic tennis does not stack up against over forty for the WTF. Olympics seem too Johnny come Lately compared with more established traditions in tennis. Just an opinion.
 
timnz said:
I come to the opposite conclusion from the same reasons you give above.

Because the Olympics is every 4 years then a player has to be lucky to happen to be in peak form when the time comes around to play it. They may only get around 2 or maybe 3 attempts to play it in their career during the peak part of their career. Hence, if a player doesn't have gold, then they have a much better excuse for not having that prize than someone who doesn't have the WTF. After all, the WTF opportunity comes along every year, as long as you finish the year in the top 8. Hence, if you don't have the WTF - the excuses are much less since you have so many more opportunities to win it!
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IIRC the olympics tennis event was not a big thing for pro players in the past one way or the other. Some olympics didn't even have the tennis event.

So it's only in recent history that Olympic Gold medal in singles has become something of importance. So in the grand scheme of things the WTF is more important for tennis fans. For the players, it is more or less another tournament when the #1 spot and YE #1 cannot be changed regardless of the results. People should not got mixed up with WTF winner vs YE #1, which the later is far more prestigious.
 
olympics gold is more prestigious than any other titles in many sports but not in tennis............

tennis is the only sport which has year end title WTF, which dont exist in other sports and WTF is older than oylmpic gold in tnenis. tennis was included in olympics in 1988
 
adil1972 said:
WTF is older than oylmpic gold in tnenis. tennis was included in olympics in 1988
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For some reason, loads of tennis historians are oblivious to the fact that tennis was part of the inaugural Summer Olympics in 1896.

It only stopped being an Olympic sport when there were disagreements over how to treat its professional status. Something that isn't an issue any more.
 
The players care deeply about the OGM but it has no resonance whatsoever on tennis legacy. Absolutely zero. Does anyone know or care that Massu or Rosset won OGM's? Are they suddenly vaulted up in any way legacy-wise? Winning a major is a million times more important to the resume of a player's career.
 
In terms of tennis achievement - the Olympics is far lesser. Nadal beat 1 top 8 player to win the 2008 Olympics. Federer has beaten 29 Top 8 players to win all of his WTF's. Just no comparison in terms of tennis achievement.
 
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