Sir George Stuart Robertson (25 May 1872 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England – 29 January 1967 in London, England) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, public servant, athlete,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player, and classical scholar. He competed at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Biography

Robertson was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he had won the

Gaisford Prize The Gaisford Prize is a prize in the University of Oxford, founded in 1855 in memory of Dr Thomas Gaisford (1779–1855). For most of its history, the prize was awarded for Classical Greek Verse and Prose. The prizes now include the Gaisford Ess ...

for Greek Verse in 1894 and an

Oxford Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

for hammer throwing. In 1896, he saw an advertisement in the window of a London travel agent, and later explained "Greek classics were my proper academic field, so I could hardly resist a go at the Olympics, could I?" Robertson paid £11 to travel to

for the inaugural modern games. On arrival there, he was dismayed to find that hammer throwing, the discipline he was most proficient in, was not to be competed in at the games. However, in the spirit of amateurism he entered for the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and the discus instead.Hodge, Gavvandra
Olympian odes: I say, what rhymes with Discoboloi?
in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' 8 August 2004, at findarticles.com In the discus throw, he came fourth, with a distance of 25.20 metres; the worst result ever recorded in the Olympics discus. In the singles tennis tournament, Robertson was defeated in the first round by

Konstantinos Paspatis Konstantinos Paspatis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Πασπάτης) (5 June 1878 (registered at birth in England as Constantine George Paspatis) – 1 July 1903) was a Greek tennis player. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. This put him in a six-way tie for eighth (last) in the field of thirteen competitors. In the tennis doubles, Robertson partnered the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

. The pair received a bye in the first round, advancing them to the semi-finals and guaranteeing them a top three place before they had played a game. They lost their semifinal match to

Dionysios Kasdaglis Dimitrios written also as Demetrius Emmanuel ( el, Δημήτριος Εμμανουήλ) Kasdaglis written also as Casdagli(s) ( el, Κάσδαγλης), (10 October 1872 in Salford – 6 July 1931 in Bad Nauheim) was a Greek-Egyptian ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Demetrios Petrokokkinos Demetrios Stephen Petrokokkinos ( el, Δημήτριος Πετροκόκκινος, 17 April 1878 in Ilford (registered at birth in England as Demetrius Stephen Petrocochino) – 10 May 1942 in Cape Town) was a Greek tennis player. He ...

, finishing third. Robertson is also remembered for his performance in the ceremony which followed the games, when he recited an ode to athletic prowess which he had composed in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

; this feat was rewarded by the King of Greece who bestowed an olive and laurel wreath. He had a successful career after athletics. He was called to the Bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1899. He served as Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies (1912 to 1937) and as Industrial Assurance Commissioner (1923 to 1937), and was also a director of the Prudential Assurance Company. He was knighted in the

1928 Birthday Honours The 1928 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were p ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, George S. 1872 births 1967 deaths 19th-century British people 19th-century male tennis players People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Athletes (track and field) at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen British male tennis players British male discus throwers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic tennis players of Great Britain British male shot putters Tennis players at the 1896 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in tennis Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics Knights Bachelor Members of the Middle Temple Place of birth missing Athletes from London Tennis people from Greater London 20th-century King's Counsel Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London