Olympic Gold / GS Combo

TennisCanada1

TennisCanada1

Professional
Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Wawrinka all have won a grand slam and an olympic gold medal, however Djokovic has not accomplished this.

There is nothing false about that statement. Regardless of singles or doubles, a gold medal is a globally-recognized prestigious achievement that is not more important than a GS but special in a different way, such that it is more recognized from other sporting disciplines, since so many sports compete in the olympics.
 
It's not about being the GOAT, its a simple observation. For the record, I'm a HUGE Djokovic fan and I dislike Rafa more than any player on tour.
 
I'll have to admit, Wawrinka has suddenly become a much bigger presence in tennis and everyone is looking at what he has accomplished so far. Very happy for him.
 
Because its the Olympics, I tend to value the Olympic gold medal in tennis a bit more than say, a Wimbledon doubles title. But when I see it in print like that, I’m not sure that's correct. But this has been debated before. Still a big accomplishment for Wawrinka.
 
Olympic tennis seems really strange to me, why can professional tennis players compete in the Olympics but not professional boxers or footballers? Aren't the olympics supposed to be only for amateurs?
 
doubles doesn't count. There is only 1 player with the whole set of singles slams and the gold.
 
TheTennisFanatic said:
Olympic tennis seems really strange to me, why can professional tennis players compete in the Olympics but not professional boxers or footballers? Aren't the olympics supposed to be only for amateurs?
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Professional Hockey in the US is suspended during the Olympics so players can go play for their home country. Just wait a few weeks and you'll see.

Professional Basketball players also play in the Olympics.

Apparently, it's hard to only have starving athletes pay the big bills it costs to put on the Olympics. Russia has paid to have the same D J that played the music during the recent Aspen X-Games last week!

Athletes aren't allowed to show sponsorship during the Olympics.
 
TennisCanada1 said:
Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Wawrinka all have won a grand slam and an olympic gold medal, however Djokovic has not accomplished this.

There is nothing false about that statement. Regardless of singles or doubles, a gold medal is a globally-recognized prestigious achievement that is not more important than a GS but special in a different way, such that it is more recognized from other sporting disciplines, since so many sports compete in the olympics.
Click to expand...

There's a differentiation between doubles and singles, but nice try.
 
Djokovic2011 said:
Is it a FACT that doubles doesn't count?
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Of course it isn't. Doubles DO count and Stan Wawrinka is a bona fide Olympic Champion to go with his Slam title.

His Olympic gold has as much value Olympic medal-wise as the ones won by Ussain Bolt, Lionel Messi and Nastya Lukina. One could argue that the others are more difficult to win and they may be right. But a gold is a gold
 
bullfan said:
Apparently, it's hard to only have starving athletes pay the big bills it costs to put on the Olympics.

...

Athletes aren't allowed to show sponsorship during the Olympics.
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That may be, but the top athletes are far from amateurs.

The footballers are professionals too. They just restrict the number of players over the age of 23 (I think) in each team. Becks was desperate to be picked for the British 2012 team, and there's no way he's an amateur!

It is a nice touch about Stan having the gold. His record does make it look like the AO is a very isolated event, but the gold medal was a big deal for him and his country, so may help him to adjust.
 
It's amazing how quickly Olympic gold has become a serious part of GOAT and "whose career is better" debates.

The Olympic tournament isn't even all that special. 64 draw, best of 3 for men (other than the final), limits on competitiors per country which slightly reduces the strength the field. Further, until just recently a few top players would usually sit out, reducing the strength of the field even more.

But, you simply cannot argue with the prestige of "Olympic gold", a universally recognized symbol of athletic excellence and achievement (ask a casual sports fan if they were a tennis player would they rather win the French Open or the Olympics and I bet most would say Olympics). It could be a sixteen player draw, all matches 8-game pro sets, and it could still have that status.

I remember when Olympic Gold was really only used to distinguish between players with otherwise similar career profiles. So, "whose career is better?" could be answered with "well, they both have X slams and X overall titles, but player A does have an Olympic (doubles or singles) gold medal."

But, now we see more and more that Olympic gold is used in debates not just as something to distinguish otherwise similar careers, but as its own thing. So, you may see someone argue "Player A has a YEC trophy, but Player B has Olympic gold".

I don't think there's any way that Olympic Gold won't continue to grow in prestige and importance in tennis. It's a train that can't be stopped (not that I necessarily want to stop it).

I just find it interesting that it's a very recent development. What caused the shift in how we perceive Olympic tennis gold as a career achievement and as a point in GOAT and "whose career is better" debates?
 
No Federer does not belong in the group

TennisCanada1 said:
Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Wawrinka all have won a grand slam and an olympic gold medal, however Djokovic has not accomplished this.

There is nothing false about that statement. Regardless of singles or doubles, a gold medal is a globally-recognized prestigious achievement that is not more important than a GS but special in a different way, such that it is more recognized from other sporting disciplines, since so many sports compete in the olympics.
Click to expand...
Others all have Singles - Doubles is different. It's a different sport than Singles.
Plus Federer had his chance at Wimbledon ....shouldn't have missed that one!
 
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