| Tennis on the Podium - Introduction |
Originally written by John Parsons, The Daily Telegraph, London; Updated by Chris Bowers
If there is one word that exemplifies the Olympics Games and, just as importantly, the Olympic spirit, it is excellence. Excellence not only in the level of the performance sought by every competitor from every nation but also in the proud, spectacular staging of the world's greatest sporting festival.
It is fitting, therefore, that for the second Olympics running, the tennis event will be played in a magnificent new purpose-built stadium. This not only reflects the fact that tennis is now fully re-established as an Olympic sport, but also makes a major contribution to the promotion of tennis in particular and sport in general. The tennis arena built at Homebush Bay four years ago now stages the prestigious Sydney tournament in January and has hosted top-level Davis Cup ties, and the new tennis stadium in Athens – which incidentally is designed by the same architect as the Sydney stadium – could play a similar role in Greek tennis, which is enjoying a lift thanks to the progress of Eleni Daniilidou.
If Daniilidou could reach the gold medal match, she would provide further inspiration for the growth of tennis in Greece, but she would not be the first Greek tennis runner-up. That honour goes to Dionysios Kasdaglis, who came second the last time the games were held in Athens: at the start of the modern Olympiad in 1896. But back then, diplomas and not gold medals were awarded to the champions, so the first Greek silver medal is still up for grabs.
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