Lottie Dod

Charlotte "Lottie" Dod (24 September 1871–27 June 1960) was a British athlete best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Championships five times, the first when she was only fifteen, in the summer of 1887. She remains the youngest player to win the women's singles tournament, though Martina Hingis was three days younger when she won the women's doubles title in 1997.

Archery

In the autumn of 1905, Dod and her brothers sold "Edgeworth" and moved to a new home near Newbury, Berkshire. They had been practising archery from the times before, but all three became more serious now and joined the Welford Park Archers in Newbury. As one of their ancestors was said to have commanded the English longbowmen at the Battle of Agincourt, they found this an appropriate sport.

Related Topics:
Newbury - Berkshire - Longbow - Battle of Agincourt

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Lottie Dod won her first tournament by 1906, and finished fifth in the Grand National Archery Meeting of 1906, 1907 and 1908. Dod's performances in the 1908 season earned her a spot on the British Olympic team. The field in the women's archery event consisted only of British women, but without the best archer of the era, Alice Legh. Dod led the competition, held in rainy conditions, after the first day but was surpassed by Queenie Newall on the second day. Her brother Willy fared better and surprisingly secured the gold medal in the men's competition.

Related Topics:
1906 - 1907 - 1908 - Alice Legh - Queenie Newall

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In 1910, Dod came close to winning the Grand National, which would have made archery the third sport in which she became a national champion. Both Lottie and her brother William led after day one, but moved down to second on the final competition day. After the Welford Archers were disbanded in late 1911, the Dods's interest in archery faded, meaning the end of Lottie Dod's long competitive sports career.

Related Topics:
1910 - 1911

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