Two years after starting his new career at the U.S. Open in New York, Andy Taylor was invited to be one of two English speaking announcers at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece. There, he worked with Craig Willis of the Australian Open, alongside several other Greek and French announcers involved in the tennis sport presentation.
With the Olympics, stadium sport presentation can be quite challenging because of tradition and protocol. French and English are the official languages of the Olympic Games, so when the host nation speaks another language, all aspects of presentation have to be delivered three times…in all three tongues. When presenting player bios in Athens, they would start with the Greek announcer, Ilias – then French with Fani – and finally English with Andy Taylor. The announcers had to work closely together, to ensure the breaks in script matched up. While challenging, it was a great opportunity for professionals speaking different languages, from other nations, to work together and grow through a common goal of excellence in presentation.
Mardy Fish won the Silver for Team USA at the Athens Games, sandwiched between a pair of Chileans who played out of their minds. Nicolas Massu won the Gold while Fernando Gonzalez won Bronze. On the ladies side, Justine Henin won Gold, Amelie Mauresmo Silver and Alicia Molik Bronze.
