ITF

92 A tlanta was the biggest one because I totally unexpectedly won the gold in singles. I also played basketball in Seoul and Barcelona. But for tennis, I played Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. I think the one in Sydney was great because there were so many spectators, so it was special. I won the gold in doubles in both Sydney and Athens with Esther Vergeer. I had to make the choice between basketball and tennis at the 1996 Paralympics. If I chose basketball, I would have got there for sure. For tennis, I was not certain at all because in Holland we had Chantal and Monique, and normally only two could go per country. I knew that if there was a wild card, I would get that because I was already quite ahead in the rankings. It ended up that there was only one wild card, so I was very lucky to get into the Paralympics in Atlanta. In the first set of the Atlanta final I didn't have any idea that I would win because Monique was playing marvellous and she was touching every ball. In the second set she had two match points, but she didn't make them and then I came back a little more. It went to a tiebreak and she had another match point. I was very happy to win the second set and then the third set was actually quite close. I was behind most of the time, but it ended up being a tiebreak and everything just went on the line for me and for Monique. It was really amazing because I won that tiebreak 7-0. It was the most exciting thing to win in that way and I think for Monique it was a big disappointment because she was No. 1 at that moment. She won most big tournaments and her goal that year was to win gold at the Paralympics. The medal ceremony was moved to the next day, which for me was in a way nice, because it was so overwhelming to win that at least now I had the night to think about it and be happy, and still have something really nice to look forward to the next day. Sometimes when I see medal ceremonies I get tears in my eyes very quickly, but when I was there myself, I was very happy. It was a very big moment for me. A lot of newspapers called in the first couple of days. I went on some shows on television. I also remember right after my match that I called my parents. The internet wasn't big at that moment and I don't know how but they had already heard it from somebody else, so they were actually drinking champagne. What was also really nice was that in Holland if you win a gold medal you get a decoration from the Queen which was very special. It was very special that Queen Beatrix was there when I got the medal. The singles gold medal was absolutely the best win, the highest one I got. I've also been world No. 1 for a couple of months in the singles rankings, I've been No. 1 in the doubles for more than one and a half years. I won the US Open in San Diego [in 2004], but the biggest one is definitely Atlanta. I was very lucky to get into the Paralympics in Atlanta. Maaike Smit Maaike Smit ATLANTA 1996 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES GOLD SYDNEY 2000 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES BRONZE SYDNEY 2000 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD ATHENS 2004 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD

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