Daniell, Venus still floating on a cloud after historic Olympic bronze
The year is 1912. It’s just the fifth Games of the modern Olympiad and tennis is very much a part of the global celebration of sport.
New Zealander, Anthony (Tony) Wilding, regarded as the No.1 tennis player in the world, claims a bronze medal at the Stockholm Olympics under the flag of Australasia. The triumph is even more poignant three years on, when the Kiwi's life is tragically cut short during World War I.
In August 2021, 109 years on from Wilding’s triumph, New Zealand finally achieved Olympic glory in tennis once again, when Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus won the doubles bronze medal in Tokyo after beating Americans Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren.
Over a month later, the smiles are still on their faces.
“It’s still crazy,” said Venus. “It’s one of those things that I really don’t know if it will ever sink in, it was so special.
“Watching the Olympics as a young kid in New Zealand, everyone is so passionate about it and sport. To be there representing New Zealand and be part of the whole team, to get to know the other athletes… but then, on top of that for us to get a medal, it’s kind of hard to put into words.”
Venus won the French Open doubles title alongside Ryan Harrison in 2017 and while that achievement was incredibly satisfying, an Olympic medal tips a different scale.
“I really can’t believe it and that’s the truth of it,” he added.
For Daniell, the euphoria has died down but the achievement still has him floating on cloud nine. He thinks it may only truly sink in when he returns to New Zealand and is able to celebrate with his family and friends. He plans to put the medal around the necks of his parents. Emotions will run high and he will be able to say in person: “Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you for all the support”.
Daniell and Venus became aware of the possibility of following in Wildings footsteps while in the midst of their journey at the Ariake Tennis Park. Just as Wilding inspired a very young nation over a century ago, the pair hope that their Tokyo achievements will encourage more young people to play tennis in their nation. If nothing else, to start to dream.
“Anthony Wilding was our greatest ever tennis player, so to follow in his footsteps is pretty damn special,” Daniell admitted. “But the other part that I hope comes of it is that tennis has been an unfunded sport in New Zealand… but now I don’t think high performance sport in New Zealand can ignore the fact that we have won a medal.
“The framework is based on medal chances, and we can show them the medal and hopefully tennis gets recognised and gets some funding and that can start a cascade of tennis players coming up in New Zealand. That would be absolutely incredible.”
Summing up the true extent of their emotions hasn’t been easy for Daniell or Venus.
“I don’t think I can do justice with any words, the kind of feeling, the emotions we had before the match, during the match, after the match, to all the messages of support from people back home,” said Venus. “So many people have helped us from when we were little kids, when we started playing tennis, all the way through to where we are now. It was really cool to hear from so many of those people and to be able to share that story with them.”
Two things stood out for Daniell: first the moment of victory in their bronze-medal match (“the tsunami of realisation that crashed over me and was very overwhelming”), and second, when Venus jokingly told him he “was up for a Kleenex sponsorship” after he descended into tears within a minute of winning the match.
“When we were thrown the New Zealand flag to put around us and we were looking up at the people who were there to support us and we were thinking about the achievement, it just overwhelmed me,” Daniell said.
“We had to wait quite a while for the medal ceremony because the gold medal match had to be played and by the time that happened, I was a bit numb. We got back to the village, it was quite late but the next day the whole New Zealand building did a haka for us to welcome us back with the medals, and I just broke down again.
“The amount of energy that was flowing… it was hair raising. Goosebumps stuff. So there was a long period of crying there. I think it was well received. I think the people in the front row knew I was prone to going so they were focusing extra attention on me. When I broke down there was a big cheer (laughing). It was amazing.”
The New Zealand team brings a huge amount of culture with them to every sporting event – especially the Olympics, where every member of the team is given “pounamu” – green stones all carved from one piece of rock. The idea is to promote unity, and the notion that every individual is one with the team as a whole.
“That sort of thinking and culture, especially because I have to spend so much of my life away from New Zealand and I have such deep ties to my nation, strikes a deep chord in me,” said Daniell. “That aspect of the Olympics is vividly memorable.”
Daniell and Venus join forces again this week for their nation in Davis Cup by Rakuten, with New Zealand taking on Korea, Republic in the World Group I tie in Newport, USA on 17-18 September. Keep up with the latest results – and follow all the other ties this weekend – at DavisCup.com.