Golf, Tennis and the Olympics

For most Olympic athletes, a gold medal is the ultimate.  It's what they work their entire career for, knowing their chance for it only comes around once every four (or five) years.  Sure, there are World Championships and other major events outside of the Olympics, but none of them hold anywhere near the same prestige.  That's why, outside of an injury, you rarely, if ever, see an athlete in any of these sports turn down a chance to go to the Olympics.

In tennis and golf, however, that's not the case.  Numerous top tennis players and golfers have opted not to play in Tokyo, for various reasons.  This isn't a new development.  In fact, it's fairly common in those two sports.  Because in golf and tennis, the Olympic gold medal isn't the ultimate prize.  It's still something the top players would like to add to their resume, but it's not incomplete without it.

This isn't the fault of the golfers and tennis players.  The Grand Slams have always been the focus in those sports.  For a long time, the Grand Slams were all there was.  Tennis was out of the Olympics for 64 years before finally returning in 1988, while golf is still new to the Olympic program, only being added back to the program five years ago in Rio.  So, for a long time, tennis players and golfers had no reason to think about the Olympics.

The Grand Slams, meanwhile, have always been there.  Four major championships a year, all of which are soaked in history and prestige.  Winning a major is everything.  And if you want to be one of the all-time greats, you need to win a bunch of them (preferably different once multiple times each).

Of course, in tennis, the Olympic gold medal is one level slightly below that.  And the Olympic gold creates a whole new category of the five most prestigious titles in the sport: the "Golden Slam."  Only four people have won the career "Golden Slam"--Steffi Graf (whose calendar-year "Golden Slam" in 1988 is one of the greatest achievements in tennis history), Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal.

Wimbledon obviously still needs to play out, but Novak Djokovic could potentially go to Tokyo with a chance to join Graf as the only players to complete a calendar-year "Golden Slam."  His only career Olympic medal was a bronze 13 years ago in Beijing, when he wasn't Novak Djokovic yet, so his motivation to win gold in Tokyo is pretty high.  Which is one of the reasons why he'll be there.

Then there's Andy Murray, who used the Olympics to finally get over the hump.  Less than a month after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, he was back on Centre Court beating Federer for Olympic gold.  He then won his first Grand Slam title a few weeks later at the US Open before finally winning Wimbledon the following year.  In 2016, Murray won his second career Wimbledon, then became the first player to defend Olympic gold in tennis.

Another Brit--Justin Rose--was enthusiastic about playing golf in Rio while so many other top players weren't.  He predicted that those who were indifferent about Olympic golf would change their tune once they found out what they missed.  There are still a good number of high-profile withdrawals for this year's Olympic golf tournament, but you'd have to think the pandemic might've had something to do with that.  The real test of Rose's theory will be three years from now in Paris.

Every player has their own reason for whether they choose to play in the Olympics or not.  For some it's an injury.  For some it's the travel.  For some it's the timing.  For some, like Rory McIlroy, it's a matter of avoiding an awkward decision about what country to represent.  (McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, which doesn't have its own Olympic team, so would've had to choose between representing Ireland or Great Britain.)  And for some, yes, it is true that the Olympics simply aren't a priority.

But to think that this dilutes the Olympic golf and tennis tournaments in any way is a completely cynical (and wrong) view.  Is the field the same quality as a Major?  No.  But it was never going to be.  Not when the Olympics grants universality places to players from smaller countries who otherwise wouldn't qualify.  And how do those lower-ranked players affect the quality of the tournament?  Not at all.

Likewise, the players who are there get it.  They want Olympic gold.  One of Rose's reasons for playing in Rio was because he wanted to be the first Olympic golf champion in 112 years.  Monica Puig's tennis gold in Rio, meanwhile, was the first Olympic gold medal EVER for Puerto Rico.  You think that didn't matter?

One of the arguments against golf and tennis is that they don't need the Olympics like athletes in some other sports do.  Golfers and tennis players are some of highest-earning athletes in the world, not just because of endorsements, but because of the amount of prize money available at the Majors and other top tournaments.  And, frankly, it really says something that they still show up for the Olympics despite the fact that the tournament doesn't offer prize money or ranking points.  The honor of representing their country and prestige of the gold medal are motivation enough.

Tennis players and golfers are also some of the most famous athletes at the Olympics.  You may not know the name of a single other person on the entire Serbian Olympic team.  But you'll know Novak Djokovic.  Ditto with Roger Federer and Switzerland (should he participate).  And who's Fiji's most famous athlete?  That would be Vijay Singh.

Would it be great if Olympic golf and tennis were like the other sports, where all the best in the world are there?  Of course!  And it's true that the high number of Olympic opt-outs is pretty much limited to golf and tennis.  The thought of deciding to not play in the Olympics when given the chance is completely inconceivable to athletes in most other sports.

Fans of golf and tennis get it, though.  The four Majors are the most important events.  Always have been, always will be.  Which isn't to say the Olympics don't matter.  It's just that they don't matter as much as the Majors.  Which isn't a bad thing.  (As much as hockey players want to win Olympic gold, they'd all be the first to tell you that getting their name on the Stanley Cup matters more.)

I'm willing to make a prediction, too.  Once we get to Tokyo, who is and isn't playing in the golf and tennis tournaments won't be a point of discussion anymore.  And whoever wins the gold won't downplay its significance.  It may not be a Major, but it'll be pretty close.