ITF

99 During that time period I had won something like 30 matches in a row, winning Wimbledon and the US Open, so I felt pretty confident that even though it was the Olympics I could do it. But you know, now looking back it was unbelievable – at that time, and that moment, standing up there you feel so confident, like you can conquer the world. The doubles gold medals were the best moments ever because we got to do that together and that's pretty unparallelled. In fact, we're [with Serena] looking forward to gearing up for the doubles again this year, to get us ready to get back in there and play well in Rio. I always put my Olympic achievements first. It would be difficult not to. Why? Because like I said they were beyond my dreams. I always dreamed of winning Wimbledon. But then I said I really want to win an Olympic gold medal so when it happened it was like, "Wow!" It was beyond what I dreamed of so that's what made it so special and just being able to win doubles with Serena was amazing. It would've been hard to compare if I hadn't won a major before but having had both experiences I would say the Olympics is more than icing on the cake. I keep my medals hidden in a very special place. They should be at the bank vault though. Sometimes I look at them. Sometimes people ask me to see them. And this year with EleVen, with our special Olympic edition dress, I took a picture with all four of them on and I've never worn all four at the same time before. I was like, "Wow!" I never thought to do something like that. You kind of compartmentalise each one. Once you're an Olympian you're always an Olympian, that's what they say. No one can ever take that away from you. When I'm announced in my matches on the court I always wait to hear the part when they say, "Four times Olympic gold medallist." That means the most to me. It makes me feel good. It pumps me up. I hear them say the other things, Wimbledon, US Open, but I always wait to hear the gold medal moment. Some [Olympic athletes] you see again, especially on social media. Some you never see again. You don't even know their names. You just say, "Hey Cuba" or whatever country it is. You shake hands and you take pictures and you have those pictures. Somehow you're friends with every single person there which makes it such a great experience. You meet so many different people you may never see again but you have one thing in common, and that's the Olympic movement. I've got a pin holder case and they're displayed in my case. That's what we [with Serena] do with the pins. I need to get my pins for this year because Rio is coming up very fast. You know, I'm a huge pin collector so after one of my matches I saw Bahamas in the stands, so from Centre Court at Wimbledon I was trading pins. He threw a pin down to me and I threw one up to him. And when he threw it down I had these special Olympic nails – red, white and blue and, of course, gold, and I broke a nail. It just didn't matter where I was, if it was during a match, after a match, at Serena's match, if I saw Namibia across the stadium, I was constantly trading. It's so funny. My goal this year is to see other events and to go to a closing ceremony. It's my fifth Olympics and not having ever seen another [live] event or the closing ceremony is no way to live. It doesn't really matter (what sport) to me because when you're there you get involved in it. You're just so involved and your heart gets involved. You get drawn in. So wherever I would go – fencing, archery, whatever it is – I don't care because I know I'll be into it. When I'm announced in my matches on the court I always wait to hear the part when they say, "Four times Olympic gold medallist."

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