Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/699819
46 BARCELONA 1992 MEN'S DOUBLES GOLD I f I look at the pictures and the videos now, I think it just shows pure happiness and our complete relief after winning the match point and also that we knew we had achieved something very special for us and for Germany as well. Reaching our goal as a team made it so special for me. It was a tough match in the finals, but we were the favourites and just so happy to bring home gold. Boris [Becker] and I were opponents throughout the rest of the year but at that moment we managed to work together as a team and create success. We were not the best of friends, but we had the highest respect for each other on the tennis court. We knew what we were capable of. We got together and realised we could only do this as a team. In spite of all the discussion that we didn't get along, we just showed that being professional and having a lot of respect for each other makes anything possible. Looking back now, getting older and being a little bit more at ease, it makes it so much more special. I'm very grateful to Boris that we did that together. It was only the second time tennis was an official competition at the Olympics. For me at the time, if somebody said you can exchange that gold medal for a win at the US Open or the French Open, I would have done it. But now after my career and looking back at it, I would never exchange it with anything. There is nothing bigger in sport than winning a medal at the Olympics. Maybe it needs a certain age and level of experience to realise how big the Olympics are. Winning the gold medal is definitely one of the biggest successes I've ever had. My hometown made a special reception for me. We [the hometown] had horseback riders winning the Olympic gold medal and other medals before. Anyhow it was something very special because in most people's opinions an Olympic gold medal is the biggest thing to achieve in sports. In the beginning as tennis players, we were not seen from other sports as real Olympians because we were professionals in our sport and we made a lot of money. I stayed in the Village with all the other athletes from Germany, we really created a good atmosphere and they realised that we were there for the same reason. They respected us at the end and they were really happy for us to win the gold medal. One day I stood at the restaurant buffet and I looked down and saw a shoe sized 56 or something like that. Then I looked up and it was the biggest woman basketballer from China, two metres 20. I thought I was tall but I felt very short and small at the time. That's the idea of the Olympics: everyone comes together, shares the same vision and that becomes very clear when you go to the same restaurant. No matter where you are from, which sport you do, it's just a big family and I really cherished that. I have my medal in my home. I have a study, a big bookcase and it is displayed there – along with a photo of me and Boris. So I can look at it every single day. No matter where you are from, which sport you do, it's just a big family and I really cherished that. MICHAEL STICH Germany We knew we had achieved something very special us and for Germany