ITF

185 I remember being unbelievably excited. I should have been shattered after playing both the singles and the mixed doubles finals but I wasn't. After my match I had a lot of media to do, but after that we all went back to the Athletes' Village to celebrate. The mood, particularly around Team GB, was incredibly positive. It was the day after Super Saturday [when Great Britain won three athletics gold medals] and everyone was incredibly excited, there was a lot of celebrating going on, it was a lot of fun. It's still an incredibly special feeling. It's different to the Grand Slams, we have opportunities every year to win those; the opportunity to win gold only comes around every four years, so I think among the players it's a pretty special occasion. It's definitely up there as being one of, if not my favourite victory of my career. Wimbledon was incredible in 2013, but winning a gold at a home Olympics in front of one of the loudest crowds I've ever played in front of is something I will never do again and I'll never forget it. I remember most walking out onto Centre Court on the day of the final. The noise was deafening, I've walked out onto Centre Court a lot, and I have never experienced an atmosphere like that. The national pride that was around Great Britain during the Olympics was incredible and I think it's something that a lot of people, not just the athletes, will remember for a long time. Lining up next to my brother Jamie to play doubles for Great Britain will always stick with me. It's always a huge honour to play for my country but there's something special about representing your country alongside your brother; we had done it before in Beijing but being at Wimbledon in that atmosphere, it was just a bit special. Winning a gold at a home Olympics in front of one of the loudest crowds I've ever played in front of is something I will never do again. My medal didn't really change much for me to be honest. I've lived in the public eye for a long time so although the media attention after I won the gold medal was intense, it eventually died down. What winning did give me though was a lot of confidence heading out to America for the US Open. I went on to win the final and capture my first Grand Slam title. I hope people don't view me differently because of it, I'd like to think that people will always just see me as the hard-working player I have always strived to be, whatever my results on the court. I was awarded an OBE [Queen's honour] in December 2012 after I had won both the gold and the US Open. I was fortunate enough to be presented with my OBE by the Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace. He's a really nice person and he enjoys his sport, and plays a bit of tennis. It was a great day and it was an incredibly humbling experience to be recognised. The Olympics is the perfect place for upsets, you see a lot of personal bests and a lot of records broken. My best advice to other players would be to give everything you can and see what happens on the day. Being at the start line or the opening match in an Olympic Games is different to anything you'll ever experience, so make sure you give it your all and try and enjoy it.

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