Rafael Nadal will play his final Olympic Games at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, and he admitted that winning the gold medal for him felt more important than winning a Grand Slam.
Nadal has already built a great legacy at the Olympics. Very few players left the type of legacy he left at the Games even though he missed both the 2012 and the 2020 Olympics. Missing two Games is significant, but the upcoming Olympics in Paris will be his third. It's a special feeling for him as he will compete in both singles and doubles. The Spaniard was quite open in his adoration for the competition at the Spanish part of his press conference.
He called the Olympic Games the largest sporting event in the world, and it's hard to argue against it. It's the pinnacle of sports in many ways, and it's even greater because it's based on nationality. Athletes are not playing for themselves or their brands, but rather their country, so the patriotism embedded into the competitive spirit of being a professional athlete makes it something special, which for Nadal tops anything else he's experienced in his career.
The list of things he won as Rafael Nadal is long, but winning a gold medal as Rafael Nadal of Spain is what he considers the most important achievement in his life. Winning the singles gold medal in Bejing felt greater to him than winning a Grand Slam because he felt as part of something bigger.
“It's a great opportunity to be at the Games, the largest sporting event in the world. I appreciate being here. This will be my last. I've missed two (London 2012 and Tokyo 2020) and it hurt me more than missing a Grand Slam. Winning Beijing in 2008 was bigger than winning a Grand Slam. You feel part of something bigger. The feeling of returning with a medal to the Villa is unforgettable.”
He won a gold medal in singles in 2008 and doubles at the 2016 Olympics, and he's hoping to achieve something similar at the upcoming Games. Winning a medal at the 2024 Olympics will be tricky, but he can do it either in singles or doubles. He's going to play with Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles, which is a strong pairing that can do some damage.
We are only days away from seeing Nadal once more at Roland Garros. Nobody should underestimate him and his chances, and given how he's spoken about the Games, we know that he's going to be very motivated. You can argue about the importance of the Games and whether they trump Grand Slams, but they come around every four years, and the list of players with a gold medal is short.
It's why Novak Djokovic often spoke about his regret of never winning one. He's got so many Grand Slams, but if he ends his career without a gold medal, it is going to be something he'll be on for the rest of his life. Nadal's legacy is already cemented but he's hoping to add more to it.