By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Representing Australia in the Davis Cup 15 times since 2016, John Peers says “there is no greater honor” than wearing the green and gold.
Now, the former Baylor All-American can add an Olympic gold medal to an impressive resume that includes four Grand Slam finals, winning the 2015 U.S. Open doubles title with Jamie Murray, 27 doubles titles on the ATP Tour and more than $5 millions in career earnings.
Paired with fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden, Peers didn’t lose a set in the first four rounds before beating Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in a thrilling gold-medal match, 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 10-8, in the Paris Olympics.
“Anytime you get a chance to wear the green and gold, whether that’s the Olympics or Davis Cups, you’re not only just playing for yourself, but you’ve also got friends and family in Australia back home,” Peers said. “As we put it in Davis Cup, there is no greater honor. To be able to do it again in the Olympics is something surreal and something I will always cherish.”
One of seven former or current Baylor student-athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics, Peers also played doubles in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and won a bronze medal in mixed doubles with Ashleigh Barty in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“Being able to just know what to expect, the way things unfold, the way it works, just the ins and outs of all the different things,” Peers said of his Olympics’ experience. “There are enough unknowns in sport, let alone to handle all those other things off the court as well. To be able to have a bit of familiarity, I think, is an added bonus to have that experience coming into the Olympics.”
The biggest key for Peers and Ebden was winning five of six tiebreakers, including the super tiebreaker in the gold-medal final.
“Just from the word go, we expected a dogfight,” Peers said. “Every time you have a chance to play at that level, nothing is ever going to be easy, especially on a clay court. There are ebbs and flows in every match. We just kept hanging around, hanging around, and just kept fighting every match, whether we were up or down. No matter what it was, we expected it to be tough. We were ready for a dogfight from the word go, and every match was the same.”
John said sharing those moments in the Olympics with his wife, Danielle, and daughters, Ellie Rose and Harper Grace, was “something really special.”
“It’s not always easy on our wives and our kids traveling,” he said. “But moments like that make it really special and unique. And just seeing the smiles on their faces just makes it even sweeter.”
Peers and John-Patrick Smith are the No. 2 seeds at a $50,000 Challenger this week in Cary, N.C., and got to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Americans George Goldhoff and Vasil Kirkov.
“I have a couple events before the U.S. Open, so starting to prep towards the U.S. Open now and get back on the hard courts in America,” he said. “So now, it’s just enjoy what just happened, but get the mind right. Get it fresh and ready to go for the U.S. summer.”
A doubles All-American at Baylor in 2011, when he reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals with Roberto Maytin, Peers said he caught up with Baylor associate head coach Izak van der Merwe at Wimbledon last month and has seen former BU All-Americans Lars Poerschke and Benjamin Becker throughout the year.
“No matter where we are in the world, we always have each other’s backs,” Peers said. “It’s always amazing to able to get back and support every chance I get. Unfortunately, I don’t always get back to Waco as much as I would like to these days. But everyone is always close and always only a phone call away. What’s special about Baylor is once you’re a Baylor Bear, you’re always a Bear.”
Peers was part of a Baylor medal haul at the Olympics that included Brittney Griner winning her third gold medal with USA basketball, Avery Skinner taking the silver medal with USA volleyball in her Olympics debut and Kristy Wallace getting a bronze medal in women’s basketball with her native Australia.
Tears streamed down Griner’s face as she stood on top of the medal stand with her third Olympic gold medal around her neck. She averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench, including 11 points each in wins over Japan and Nigeria.
“This gold medal is going to hold a special place amongst the two others I was fortunate to win,” said Griner, who returned to the Phoenix Mercury after the Paris Olympics.
Olympics MVP A’ja Wilson said Griner is “someone that’s a warrior, that’s a trooper, that’s going to be there no matter what and is going to be consistent and a true professional.”
“She showed that tonight,” Wilson said of Griner, who had four points and two rebounds playing five minutes in the 67-66 gold-medal win over France. “She shows that always.”
Wallace, making her Olympics’ debut with the Opals, played in three of the team’s six games and had four points and three assists in Australia’s 85-64 loss to USA in the semifinals.
Developing into one of USA volleyball’s most consistent threats and a back-row specialist, Skinner recorded two double-doubles in Olympics play. She had 15 kills, 10 digs and three blocks in the Americans’ 3-2 win over Brazil in the semifinals and averaged 11.3 points, 8.7 kills and 6.5 digs, with USA falling to Italy in the gold-medal game.
While Nuni Omot did not medal, he helped the South Sudan men’s basketball team make its first-ever Olympics appearance and averaged 16.7 points in three group phase games. In his best game of the tournament, Omot had 24 points, two rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes in South Sudan’s 103-86 loss to USA.
Rising seniors Nathaniel Ezekiel and Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi both competed for Nigeria in the track and field competition at the Stade de France. “Zaza” had a best throw of 254 feet, 4 inches and failed to advance to the finals of the men’s javelin, while Ezekiel was second in his opening-round heat of the 400-meter hurdles in 43.38 seconds before finishing 11th overall in the semifinal round.
Also making his Olympics’ debut was Baylor head track and field coach Michael Ford, who was an assistant coach with USA, working with the men’s sprints and hurdles. His crew won 10 of USA track and field’s 34 medals, including gold medals in the 100 meters (Noah Lyles), 400 meters (Quincy Hall), 110 hurdles (Grant Holloway), 400 hurdles (Rai Benjamin) and 4×400 relay.
In a radio interview with “Voice of Bears” John Morris, Peers said “it’s giving me goosebumps” to now hear the term Olympic gold medalist before his name.
“It’s quite surreal,” he said, “but hopefully it can sink in at some point.”
Baylor Bear Insider
Representing Australia in the Davis Cup 15 times since 2016, John Peers says “there is no greater honor” than wearing the green and gold.
Now, the former Baylor All-American can add an Olympic gold medal to an impressive resume that includes four Grand Slam finals, winning the 2015 U.S. Open doubles title with Jamie Murray, 27 doubles titles on the ATP Tour and more than $5 millions in career earnings.
Paired with fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden, Peers didn’t lose a set in the first four rounds before beating Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in a thrilling gold-medal match, 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 10-8, in the Paris Olympics.
“Anytime you get a chance to wear the green and gold, whether that’s the Olympics or Davis Cups, you’re not only just playing for yourself, but you’ve also got friends and family in Australia back home,” Peers said. “As we put it in Davis Cup, there is no greater honor. To be able to do it again in the Olympics is something surreal and something I will always cherish.”
One of seven former or current Baylor student-athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics, Peers also played doubles in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and won a bronze medal in mixed doubles with Ashleigh Barty in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“Being able to just know what to expect, the way things unfold, the way it works, just the ins and outs of all the different things,” Peers said of his Olympics’ experience. “There are enough unknowns in sport, let alone to handle all those other things off the court as well. To be able to have a bit of familiarity, I think, is an added bonus to have that experience coming into the Olympics.”
The biggest key for Peers and Ebden was winning five of six tiebreakers, including the super tiebreaker in the gold-medal final.
“Just from the word go, we expected a dogfight,” Peers said. “Every time you have a chance to play at that level, nothing is ever going to be easy, especially on a clay court. There are ebbs and flows in every match. We just kept hanging around, hanging around, and just kept fighting every match, whether we were up or down. No matter what it was, we expected it to be tough. We were ready for a dogfight from the word go, and every match was the same.”
John said sharing those moments in the Olympics with his wife, Danielle, and daughters, Ellie Rose and Harper Grace, was “something really special.”
“It’s not always easy on our wives and our kids traveling,” he said. “But moments like that make it really special and unique. And just seeing the smiles on their faces just makes it even sweeter.”
Peers and John-Patrick Smith are the No. 2 seeds at a $50,000 Challenger this week in Cary, N.C., and got to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Americans George Goldhoff and Vasil Kirkov.
“I have a couple events before the U.S. Open, so starting to prep towards the U.S. Open now and get back on the hard courts in America,” he said. “So now, it’s just enjoy what just happened, but get the mind right. Get it fresh and ready to go for the U.S. summer.”
A doubles All-American at Baylor in 2011, when he reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals with Roberto Maytin, Peers said he caught up with Baylor associate head coach Izak van der Merwe at Wimbledon last month and has seen former BU All-Americans Lars Poerschke and Benjamin Becker throughout the year.
“No matter where we are in the world, we always have each other’s backs,” Peers said. “It’s always amazing to able to get back and support every chance I get. Unfortunately, I don’t always get back to Waco as much as I would like to these days. But everyone is always close and always only a phone call away. What’s special about Baylor is once you’re a Baylor Bear, you’re always a Bear.”
Peers was part of a Baylor medal haul at the Olympics that included Brittney Griner winning her third gold medal with USA basketball, Avery Skinner taking the silver medal with USA volleyball in her Olympics debut and Kristy Wallace getting a bronze medal in women’s basketball with her native Australia.
Tears streamed down Griner’s face as she stood on top of the medal stand with her third Olympic gold medal around her neck. She averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench, including 11 points each in wins over Japan and Nigeria.
“This gold medal is going to hold a special place amongst the two others I was fortunate to win,” said Griner, who returned to the Phoenix Mercury after the Paris Olympics.
Olympics MVP A’ja Wilson said Griner is “someone that’s a warrior, that’s a trooper, that’s going to be there no matter what and is going to be consistent and a true professional.”
“She showed that tonight,” Wilson said of Griner, who had four points and two rebounds playing five minutes in the 67-66 gold-medal win over France. “She shows that always.”
Wallace, making her Olympics’ debut with the Opals, played in three of the team’s six games and had four points and three assists in Australia’s 85-64 loss to USA in the semifinals.
Developing into one of USA volleyball’s most consistent threats and a back-row specialist, Skinner recorded two double-doubles in Olympics play. She had 15 kills, 10 digs and three blocks in the Americans’ 3-2 win over Brazil in the semifinals and averaged 11.3 points, 8.7 kills and 6.5 digs, with USA falling to Italy in the gold-medal game.
While Nuni Omot did not medal, he helped the South Sudan men’s basketball team make its first-ever Olympics appearance and averaged 16.7 points in three group phase games. In his best game of the tournament, Omot had 24 points, two rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes in South Sudan’s 103-86 loss to USA.
Rising seniors Nathaniel Ezekiel and Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi both competed for Nigeria in the track and field competition at the Stade de France. “Zaza” had a best throw of 254 feet, 4 inches and failed to advance to the finals of the men’s javelin, while Ezekiel was second in his opening-round heat of the 400-meter hurdles in 43.38 seconds before finishing 11th overall in the semifinal round.
Also making his Olympics’ debut was Baylor head track and field coach Michael Ford, who was an assistant coach with USA, working with the men’s sprints and hurdles. His crew won 10 of USA track and field’s 34 medals, including gold medals in the 100 meters (Noah Lyles), 400 meters (Quincy Hall), 110 hurdles (Grant Holloway), 400 hurdles (Rai Benjamin) and 4×400 relay.
In a radio interview with “Voice of Bears” John Morris, Peers said “it’s giving me goosebumps” to now hear the term Olympic gold medalist before his name.
“It’s quite surreal,” he said, “but hopefully it can sink in at some point.”
