ITF

122 T he feeling was extraordinary. Full of so much joy and pride. It was pride for winning a silver medal and playing with Danni [Di Toro], but also I just remember feeling so proud to be part of such an extraordinary event and up until that particular point it was the best Paralympics ever. The stadiums were full, the volunteers were exceptional, playing in front of family and friends, so for that reason it was just extra special. I guess you normally don't have such crowds, especially with the Paralympic sports, so the fact that there were thousands and thousands of people, the stadiums were full, it was nerve-racking – exciting, but nerve-racking as well. I also think it was hard because you play so many events leading up to it, there is so much build-up. People are always like, "Oh, wow!" I find it kind of surprising. People do think it is a wonderful thing to achieve, but I guess for me it was just playing the sport that I loved and that I was passionate about and I was lucky enough to have these opportunities. That experience has stayed with me forever. You get to relive it over and over again – it becomes part of you. It was just such a joyous time. Also, I completed my counselling course and I worked with at-risk kids and I worked with (people with) new spinal cord injuries so I was able to then share my experiences with them, which showed them that so much is possible. Not necessarily in a sporting avenue... but that they can achieve so much more. I think it actually started before we stepped onto the podium because in the doubles event, Wendy and I, we actually knew we had won at least bronze because we beat the Russians [Larisa Savchenko and Natalia Zvereva]. I remember when we won that match I was pretty happy. I remember we played really well and we won pretty easily and they were a pretty good team. There was huge pressure. I was playing with Wendy and we had played quite a bit together and we knew each other very well and we will always share that, which is something quite special. So there are little stories inside the big story, but I do remember playing really, really well in the medal match and we won it pretty easily. Obviously tennis hadn't been in the Olympic Games – well, it had been a demonstration sport but it hadn't been a medal sport for about 64 years – so I think all of us tennis players felt that we were being welcomed into a bigger sporting picture, which was something quite special. We all felt quite privileged to be there. I don't think it dramatically changed my life, apart from that fact that I came away with a medal and that was something that growing up I never would have anticipated that I would have been able to achieve, because (Olympic) tennis was never on my radar when I was younger. I was the official spokesperson for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and I was giving media briefings to the international media daily during the Sydney Games, and I am sure that opportunity was bestowed upon me because I was an Olympian and I was lucky enough to be a medallist as well. SYDNEY 2000 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SILVER Branka Pupovac SEOUL 1988 WOMEN'S DOUBLES BRONZE Elizabeth Smylie Branka Pupovac Elizabeth Smylie

• Cover