ITF

93 I was playing tennis when I was still walking and then I was in a wheelchair at the age of 14 and at that point there was no wheelchair tennis, so I was looking for other sports and then I ended up in table tennis. I stepped out from tennis for six years and then returned to wheelchair tennis when Brad Parks came over to Europe with a bunch of guys for clinics and demonstrations. I didn't know it would become a Paralympic sport. Only later on, a year or two later, we heard the demonstration was on in Seoul. I had only been playing for three years, but I already had been playing as an able-bodied player for eight years. In Barcelona, that was really special because it was the first time [as a full medal sport]. It was a full stadium. Seoul and Barcelona was a huge difference in terms of the atmosphere in the stadium, the amount of public that were there and the amount of exposure that we had as a sport leading up to the Paralympics. It was my highlight of my sporting career. The singles gold came first and doubles the day after. In terms of atmosphere, organisation, media awareness and exposure, Barcelona was the first absolutely complete tournament in a sense that wheelchair tennis was treated equally to regular tennis and to other sports. That was the first time that I really experienced a great event like that. It was a breakthrough in Dutch sporting history that we were integrating so well. That was a nice aspect. Of course when you win two golds it's special. Our Dutch coach decided that Chantal and I should play together in the Paralympics. So I didn't know her that well as a doubles partner, but leading up to the Paralympics we had a few tournaments just to get used to each other and to be able to play well with each other. That worked out really well. I'm really active in golfing now. I am going for my third career in golf. It's not in the Paralympics yet. But they are really working on that now and hopefully it will be a Paralympic sport in 2024. I t's very special to be in the Paralympic Games and to win that first gold medal [at the Seoul 88 demonstration event]. The first event is always the one that stays in your memory the strongest because it's so special. In Barcelona, I won silver in the singles and gold in the doubles. Barcelona was also special because it was very well organised. That is always what I remember. To win the silver medal was also great. I remember that I went to Barcelona to do an exhibition with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. It was actually before the Paralympics in Barcelona. It was a promotional exhibition to promote the Paralympics and tennis in it. That was something that I still remember was very special. We went to some of the opening and closing ceremonies in the big stadium. That's very impressive when you go out on the track with your national team. That's also where you get this national feeling that you are there for your country and you are there with other people. I remember from Atlanta that I got a letter from someone that was secretly in love with me, a spectator that was watching me. I got to meet him because I also played the Atlanta tournament once every year. He always came to watch and see me. But the love was not from my side. Simon Aspelin Monique Kalkman Monique Kalkman BARCELONA 1992 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SILVER BARCELONA 1992 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD ATLANTA 1996 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES BRONZE ATLANTA 1996 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD Chantal Vandierendonck Chantal Vandierendonck BARCELONA 1992 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES GOLD BARCELONA 1992 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD ATLANTA 1996 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SILVER ATLANTA 1996 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES GOLD

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