Rafael Nadal received a special gift to mark “one of the most emotional days” of his career months after retiring. Last year, the 22-time Grand Slam champion had the honour of being a torchbearer during the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
The former world No. 1 recently opened up on the experience and revealed that he was only told of his important role in the ceremony with a few minutes’ notice. Nadal understandably became emotional when he learned he’d be carrying the torch and started crying before telling himself to “shut up”.
Nadal was part of an iconic moment during last year’s Olympics opening ceremony when he received the torch from Zinedine Zidane on its final leg. The Olympics organisers have now honoured the Spaniard with a touching present from the occasion – one of the official torches.
The 38-year-old took to social media to share a photo of himself with the torch and announced that it would be going in his Rafa Nadal Museum at his academy in Mallorca.
“Thank you @Olympics for sending me this very special torch,” the Spaniard wrote.
“At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games I experienced one of the most emotional days of my career and I’m thrilled to keep this torch in a remarkable place in the Museum.”
The present came at the perfect time, as Nadal recently opened up on the special occasion during his appearance on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast. The 14-time French Open winner confessed that he had no idea he’d be one of the torchbearers.
“I didn’t know,” Nadal told his old rival, noting that he was informed “five minutes before, 10 minutes before”.
The 2008 Olympic champion continued: “I was in a small area waiting like half an hour before because it was a mess to get there with all the people, it was raining, it was crazy.
“So when they say, ‘Okay, it’s time’, when we were walking there, they start to explain to me, ‘So, you’re going to pick up the torch’.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know what it was going to be. When we see the image, I was going up the stairs, going to the stage to pick up the torch.
“So in that moment I had like two minutes of waiting there. So when I realised the moment, I started to cry a little bit before.”
But Nadal didn’t want his emotions to get in the way of the occasion. “When I started to cry, I say, ‘Shut up, man! Stop it. It’s not the moment to cry, it’s the moment to enjoy’,” he laughed.
“I say, ‘Okay, try not to be too emotional. Just enjoy the moment. Let’s go out, let’s go the thing and let’s have fun’. And yeah, it was amazing.”
The retired tennis star will now have a lifetime reminder of the incredible moment after receiving his own torch.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk