Leander Pae’s Olympic Record
Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev wasn’t even born when India’s Leander Paes made his debut at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. 28 years later, Paes is now preparing to compete in his seventh Olympic Games, a record in the world of tennis.
“Like my dad says, you’ve got to be a little bit crazy to play in seven Olympics,” Paes told CNN’s Open Court.
“Age is just a number,” he added. “What drives me is passion. Passion to be everything I can be.”
Peas is known as a doubles specialist, however, his only Olympic medal was in the singles event. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he defeated Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni to secure a bronze medal. At the time, he was the first Indian athlete to win an individual Olympic medal for 44 years.
Now at the age of 43, Peas is eager to expand his medal tally in Rio this year.
“I’ve already got a singles medal in my bag, so I really strive to win a doubles medal and put them side-by-side,” he said.
