ITF

61 L eila: After winning the medal in 1992, the country was going through difficult times but in spite of this fact I felt great support and cheerfulness from the public. After 24 years I am still very proud to be the only Olympic medallist in tennis in the country and feel great respect from the people of Georgia.* The biggest challenge while competing in the Olympics is that you think less about the outcome and more about defending the reputation of the country that you represent. Moreover, you get the chance to compete in the Olympics only once in every four years as a result of a huge amount of work and dedication. The first time I felt this challenge and pressure was in 1988 during the Olympics in Seoul when I was just 20. Winning the Olympic medal definitely made me a more recognisable person in the country. After winning the Olympic medal I definitely started to feel more love, respect and attention from the public. By having the status of Olympic medallist I saw a significant rise in my social activities and, in terms of the sport, I served as the member of the National Olympic Committee and led the Georgian Tennis Federation for 14 years as its president. From 2010 to 2015 I was appointed and served as the director of the WTA's Baku Cup tournament. Winning an Olympic medal has significantly raised my self-esteem and made me more confident. As time passes I think more frequently about winning the medal and appreciate the fact more with age. My medal is prominently hanging on the wall in my office. My advice to active athletes is to pursue the Olympic medal as the crown of all their achievements by tirelessly working on winning each tournament they enter. N atalia: Obviously I was very happy and joyous at both the moment of victory and on the podium. I guess it was a little different in a way that I wasn't completely competing for me. It wasn't hard to compete against [usual doubles partner] Gigi Fernandez in the semifinals, rather, difficult to lose and feel their team's supremacy against ours. Leila and I knew each other really well. I don't really remember how the partnership came about, but I have a feeling we were simply assigned to each other. I was always a better team player – I lacked the motivation to succeed personally. I don't really remember where I keep my medal, but definitely some place safe. It didn't make any difference playing for the Unified Team. Growing up in the USSR then and still feeling quite similar now made my experience ideological. For me the most important thing about it was the ideology of it. I guess I'd say: compete with pride and do everything to be proud of representing your country. I remember mostly the great atmosphere that surrounded all my Olympic experiences. That I will never forget. Compete with pride and do everything to be proud of representing your country.

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