ITF

15 M y parents would never watch me play, ever, because they would get too nervous. They never came to Wimbledon. They never came to the US Open. But when my mom found out I was in the Olympics she said, "Oh, I'm coming." So that gave me an immediate sense of how big that was and how big the Olympics are and the impact it was having bringing tennis back. I had a pretty good draw. I played [Brad] Gilbert in the semifinals and I beat him up pretty badly. [Stefan] Edberg was in the other half of the draw and [Miloslav] Mecir beat him. So it was a pretty straightforward run, but to me winning against Gilbert to get into the final round was pretty much the highlight. The final was a real mixed bag. I was definitely in there. To have him [Mecir] win was pretty disappointing, I wouldn't lie about that. Dealing with the emotional aspect of it was the most demanding part. The feeling that each match something was on the line – what was on the line was getting a medal. I was particularly proud because it was the first time that the Olympics had come back (for tennis) since the '20s, so I really felt like I was on the leading edge of that. It was just an amazing experience. The Village was definitely not the most luxurious. I remember the sheets were made out of paper. I don't think there was any air conditioning and it was pretty hot in Korea. There was this crazy song that would wake us up every morning at 6 o'clock, like a communal song that went through the whole Village. SEOUL 1988 MEN'S SINGLES SILVER When you get to see that kind of athleticism in different ways all in one place it just gave you the sense of something otherworldly. I remember going and watching the swimmers and divers practise, and just being up close to the pool and watching Janet Evans swim, you couldn't believe something was so beautiful. I thought I'd never like boxing and this brutal, powerful sport; that was really moving to me. I remember watching the sprinters warm up before the 400 metres and 100 metres and they were just heats. When you get to see that kind of athleticism in different ways all in one place it just gave you the sense of something otherworldly. It was really fantastic. I remember gathering with all the other athletes right before we went into the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony and it was a buzz like no other. To feel like you were a part of a much larger world of sport, and it could have an impact on such an enormous scale, was really striking. I think one other special moment for me was coming into the stadium and there were 80,000 people. I actually saw my mother in the crowd and that was pretty spectacular. It was totally unexpected. When people come over to my house, friends will put my medal on their neck and walk around with it. I don't even know if a Wimbledon trophy would carry that kind of appeal across different levels. The medal occupies a pretty special place, people just think it's kind of the coolest thing.

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