Gwendoline EASTLAKE-SMITH

There were only seven competitors in the 1908 Olympic covered court women’s singles and in only her third match of the tournament, Gladys Eastlake-Smith met Alice Greene in the final. After two sets the match was level but Eastlake-Smith won the final set 6-0 to take the gold medal. Neither of the finalists was in the absolute top flight of British players but Eastlake-Smith certainly had the better indoor record of the two. She won the All-England covered court singles in 1907 and was again a finalist in 1908 when she lost to Dorothy Lambert Chambers who did not enter the Olympic events. Miss Eastlake-Smith also won the All-England covered court mixed doubles in 1905 with Reggie Doherty and again in 1908 with Tony Wilding. Two days after her Olympic victory, Gladys Eastlake-Smith married Wharram Lamplough and in 1913 they won the now defunct married Doubles championship.