In some sports an Olympic title can be part of a greater achievement. In this blog we’ve already featured ice hockey’s Triple Gold Club and basketball’s Triple Crown winners but tennis also has its’ ultimate challenge – the Golden Slam.
The Golden slam consists of winning the 4 major championships, the Australian, French and US Opens as well as Wimbledon and an Olympic gold medal. It was never achieved during tennis’s original tenure as an Olympic sport (because of the French tournament being restricted to members of French clubs before 1925) but, since the sport returned to the Olympic fold in 1988, a dozen men and women have performed the feat in a mixture of singles and doubles.

Men’s singles
[table]

Athlete,Nation(s),Olympics,Australia,French, Wimbledon,USA
Andre Agassi, USA, 1996,4 wins,1 win,1 win,2 wins
Rafael Nadal,ESP,2008,1 win,9 wins,2 wins,2 wins

[/table]

Men’s doubles
[table]
Athlete,Nation(s),Olympics,Australia,French, Wimbledon,USA
Bob Bryan,USA,2012,6 wins,2 wins,3 wins,4 wins
Mike Bryan,USA,2012,6 wins,2 wins,3 wins,4 wins
Daniel Nestor,CAN,2000,1 win,4 wins,2 wins, 1 win
Todd Woodbridge,AUS,1996,3 wins,1 win,9 wins,3 wins,
Mark Woodforde,AUS,1996,2 wins,1 win,6 wins,3 wins
[/table]

Women’s singles
[table]

Athlete,Nation(s),Olympics,Australia,French, Wimbledon,USA
Steffi Graf,FRG/GER,1988,4 wins,6 wins,7 wins,5 wins
Serena Williams,USA,2012,5 wins,2 wins,5 wins,5 wins
[/table]

Steffi Graf (right of picture)

Women’s doubles
[table]

Athlete,Nation(s),Olympics,Australia,French, Wimbledon,USA
Gigi Fernandez,PUR/USA,1992/1996,2 wins,6 wins,4 wins,5 wins
Pam Shriver,USA,1988,7 wins,3 wins,5 wins,5 wins
Serena Williams,USA,2000/2008/2012,4 wins,2 wins,5 wins,2 wins
Venus Williams,USA, 2000/2008/2012, 4 wins,2 wins,5 wins,2 wins
[/table]

Williams sisters

Mixed doubles
Closest approach which includes an Olympic title is that of Vika Azarenko and Max Mirnyi of Belarus with Olympic, Wimbledon and US Open titles and an appearance in the final at the Australian Open.
Daniela Hantuchová has won all 4 major titles but did not compete in the event at the 2012 Olympics.

Serena Williams is unique in achieving this feat as both a singles and doubles player and has a record 34 wins across all five championships and both disciplines. Steffi Graf is the only player to win all 5 tournaments in the same calendar year whilst the Bryan brothers have also held all 5 titles at the same time although, in their case, it was spread over 2012 and 2013. Two of the premiere players of recent years, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, still need an Olympic singles gold to complete their set.