Out of everything that Sir Andy Murray has done on a tennis court, no feeling has topped winning Olympic gold at Wimbledon in London 12 years ago.
So after being selected for his fifth Olympic Games, there was an overwhelming sense of pride at being part of Team GB in Paris.
He is set to compete in the men’s singles, as well as being nominated in the men’s doubles alongside Dan Evans, with the final confirmation of the entry list for doubles set to be confirmed on June 25th.
The rest of the announced Team GB squad is bolstered by newly crowned British number one Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Katie Boulter and doubles pairing Neal Skupski and Joe Sailsbury.
It extends a remarkable Olympic legacy for Murray, who is the only person to have won two Olympic tennis golds in singles, while at London 2012, he also won silver in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson.
And the three-time Grand Slam champion highlighted that day at SW19 as perhaps the greatest joy he has experienced on a tennis court.
He said: “I've really enjoyed playing the Olympics over the years and the chance to play in another one, I'm excited about that.
“The Olympics in London, the finals day, when we played the singles and the mixed final was definitely one of the best days of my professional life.
“Definitely one of the happiest I've felt, more so than when I won Wimbledon in 2013 or even the US Open.
“It was just an amazing experience, to be part of an Olympic team. I'm a massive, massive sports fan. I have always enjoyed team competitions, probably more than individual competitions, whether that be as a junior or playing in Davis Cup or Olympics. I've loved it.”
From Beijing to Paris, Murray has experienced the highs and lows of the Olympics, his golds in London and Rio sandwiched by a first-round singles loss in 2008, and a heart-breaking men’s doubles defeat alongside Joe Salisbury in the quarter-finals three years ago.
But even as one of the biggest sports stars on the planet, Murray explained that he is just as excited by some of the Games’ idiosyncrasies and what it means to be an Olympian.
Quiet, please...
— Team GB (@TeamGB) June 16, 2024
Our tennis team for @Paris2024 is starting to take shape 🎾@the_LTA | @EurostarUK
He explained: “It’s a completely unique experience. I don’t know how many athletes go to an Olympics and say they didn’t enjoy it. For me, it’s something completely different to what we experience the rest of our careers. You get the opportunity to speak to people from different sports and from countries all over the world.
“I’ve loved going around chatting to the other athletes. You collect their flags, you get the pins, you get a bag of pins and attach them to your accreditation.
“It might seem like it’s a silly thing to do but I’ve really enjoyed that part of it. I’ve tried to go along and watch some of the other sports, providing it’s not distracting from your own performance. I have really enjoyed the whole thing.”
For Murray, who grew up as a sports nut, two athletes stand out above all others. The fact that neither are tennis players speaks to the Olympics’ global nature. Instead, he singled out American legend Michael Johnson, who won 200m and 400m gold on the track in Atlanta, and javelin thrower and two-time Olympic silver medallist Steve Backley, who also won one bronze, as two who captured his imagination.
Since competing on this stage though, it is the more unusual stories that have stood out. In Tokyo, brothers Mohamad and Alaa Maso competed for Syria and the refugee team respectively, the former in triathlon and the latter in swimming.
Murray, along with his brother Jamie, had the chance to meet them at the Games, with that encounter resonating.
He said: “In Tokyo, me and my brother were speaking to a couple of brothers who were playing for separate countries. One of them had fled because of the situation in their country. You speak to people who are in very, very different situations.”
Murray heads to Paris already secure as one of Britain’s greatest-ever sportspeople. Having admitted that this summer will likely be his final hurrah as a tennis player, how fitting that Murray will have one last chance to grace the stage where he experienced his greatest joy.
Sportsbeat 2024