British Olympic Gold Medallists 1896-2014

RACKETS was only once held at the Olympics, at London in 1908. There were two events, men's singles and doubles. There were seven competitors and all seven were British, consequently Britain won all the medals.

Evan Noel (below), John Astor (below) and Henry Leaf, silver and bronze, each won two medals.

The Old Boy's Public Schools Championship, inaugurated in 1922 is named after Henry Leaf

John Jacob Astor Vth is probably the wealthiest person to have won an Olympic gold medal for Great Britain. Born into the famous American Astor family, he won two medals at the 1908 Olympics.

With Vane Pennell he won the doubles, winning easily 4-1 against Edmund Bury and Cecil Browning. And in the singles he won a bronze medal as a losing semi-finalist against Henry Leaf.

Astor moved to England when he was four and when he was just eight his mother died. His father became a naturalised British citizen in 1899.

Astor went to a Preparatory school in Farnborough before going to Eton and then Oxford, but after one year at University he took a commission with the 1st Life Guards. He served as an Aide de Camp to the Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, between 1911-14 before returning to his regiment during the War. He lost his right leg during action in 1918 but it did not prevent him from playing cricket, golf. tennis and squash well into later life. After the War he retired with the rank of Major, and had received the Legion of Honour.

Astor led an eventful life. He was the chief proprietor and chairman of The Times from 1922 to 1959. He became the MP for Dover in 1922, holding the seat for 23 years. He was also Captain of the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club and in 1937 became the President of the MCC and he was also the President of the Hurlingham Club. He was also a director of the Great Western Railway and Hambros Bank. He was later created the First Baron Astor of Hever in the 1956 New Year's Honours List but, in 1962, in order to avoid punitive death duties he left England to live in France, where he died nine years later.

One of his second cousins, John Jacob Astor IV, died in the Titanic disaster. He was certainly the wealthiest man aboard the ship and probably the wealthiest man in the world at the time.

NOEL, Evan Baillie
Born: 23 January 1879, Stanmore, Middlesex, England
Died: 22 December 1928, Kensington, London, England
Olympics competed in: 1 (1908)
Olympic medals:
1908 Gold - Rackets (Singles)
1908 Bronze - Rackets (Doubles)

Noel won the Rackets singles final in 1908 after wins against Cecil Browning (3-1), Vane Pennell (3-0) and in the semi-final, Henry Brougham (3-0). Noel was scheduled to meet his doubles partner Henry Leaf in the final but Leaf injured his hand on the way to winning the doubles bronze medal and withdrew from the singles. Noel also entered the Jeu de Paume competition in 1908 and got through to the second round where he lost to fellow Briton, and eventual silver medallist, Eustace Miles.

Educated at Cambridge, Noel was ambidextrous but preferred playing rackets with his left hand but when playing cricket he batted, bowled and threw right-handed. He won the Amateur Rackets Championship in 1907 - he was the director of the sports department of The Times at the time, a position he held from 1903-09. He continued working for The Times until 1914 when he was appointed secretary and manager of the Queen's Club in West Kensington. A remained in the post 14 years. He also wrote several tennis and rackets (racquets) books.

In 1923 Noel, along with Lord Kinnaird was on the founding committee of the Eton Fives Association.

Noel died at the age of 50 in 1929 after being dogged by ill-health for many years. He never saw his daughter Susan win the British Women's National Squash championship which she did three years in succession 1932-34. She also won the US National Championship in 1933.

Vane Pennell won the doubles competition in 1908 with John Jacob Astor but was eliminated in the first round of the singles by fellow Briton Evan Noel, who went on to win the gold medal. Pennell also took part in the Jeu de Paume event but lost 3-0 in the quarter-final to the American Jay Gould, the eventual winner and man who was to become the world champion in 1912.

Educated at Eton, Charterhouse and Cambridge, Pennell won the amateur Real Tennis championship of England in 1904 by beating Eustace Miles who had won the title for the previous six years. It is reported that in his match with Miles, Pennell played in a pink vest and in between sets drank champagne while his opponent drank tea. Obviously the champagne was the greater of the two stimulants as Pennell came from two sets down to win the title. During World War One he served with the Royal Army Service Corps in France and Greece.

Apart from being one of the great rackets and real tennis players in the early part of the 20th century Vane Pennll was also a keen ice hockey player and represented his country at international level.

In 1908 Vane Pennell wrote a book about Auction Bridge which had developed as a variant of straight bridge a few years earlier, in 1904.

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